A scene from Little Shop of Horrors at the King’s Arms, Salford
Little Shop of Horrors continues at the King’s Arms, Salford until 22 December.
Much like the insatiable, intergallactic flora at its centre, Little Shop of Horrors has grown from its humble beginnings as an Off-Broadway breakout hit in 1982 into a world-straddling stage behemoth. In those years, the endearing appeal of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s love letter to kitsch 1950s B-movies and 1960s rock‘n’roll, soul and doo-wop has made it a favourite among amateur and professional companies alike, with its most recent West End revival coming in the form of the Menier Chocolate Factory’s 2006 production.
Key to its success are, of course, the brilliant songs of Menken and Ashman, written in the period before Menken redefined the Disney songbook in the 1990s with his scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. But another vital component is the tongue-in-cheek way Ashman’s book both satirises and pays tribute to the tropes of musical theatre itself, which makes it such a great contender for revival and allows every fresh production to tap into the affection it has for the form.
In short, it is the perfect show for Assembled Junk, the Manchester-based theatre company that made its mark earlier in 2013 with its revival of Spring Awakening, the show that earned it its residency at the King’s Arms. And director James Baker’s production and creative team have once again come up with the goods, with a revival that puts the audience at the centre of the action, making great use of the King’s Arms’ rather bijou performing space and putting you within a hair’s breadth of the brilliantly choreographed action.
Standing out among a hard-working ensemble is Laura Harrison, who at first seems to be channelling original star Ellen Greene as Audrey but soon finds her own groove, striking the right balance between brassiness and vulnerability as the girl who inspires put-upon florist worker Seymour to make a Faustian pact with the blood-thirsty plant that bears her name.
On first impression, Duncan Burt isn’t quite as nebbish a Seymour as you would expect, but he too makes his mark – and the pair combine to fabulous effect on Act II’s showstopping ‘Suddenly Seymour’, one of post-war musical theatre’s greatest duets. Special mention also goes to Francesca Swarbrick, Christina Meehan and Paida Noel as the Greek chorus of street urchins that round out the show’s polished arrangements, slickly orchestrated by the musical team of Austin Fitzsimmons, Tom Chester and Scott Stait and marshalled by voice coach Manny Crooks.
For such a feel-good show, those more familiar with Frank Oz’s 1986 movie adaptation might be surprised by the stage version’s rather bleaker ending, which shares its DNA with the 1960 Roger Corman film that inspired it, and some of the songs and subplots that were excised for the big screen – such as Seymour’s adoption by his boss Mr Mushnik – now feel surplus to requirements. But these are minor quibbles in a show that has wit, charm and warmth to spare and really transports the audience – once the lights go down you forget you are in a room above a pub – and fittingly, running at a tight two hours, really provides audiences with the very definition of a bite-sized musical treat.
Chris Bartlett
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