Theater Review: Short North Stage’s Delightful ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Short North Stage’s season continues with the big technicolor fun of Howard Ashman (book and lyrics, adapted from the Roger Corman movie written by Charles Griffith) and Alan Menken’s (music) Little Shop of Horrors in a splashy, riotous production directed by Thom Christopher Warren. 

The horror-comedy fable finds Seymour (Turner Riley) living and working for florist Mr. Mushnik (Paul Whelihan) on skid row in an unnamed city unmoored in time by mostly in the late ‘50s-early ‘60s, and pining over coworker Audrey (Mia Angelique), who’s dating a sadistic dentist, Orin (Sam Hartley, also every other character outside of the bubble of the main characters). 

A trio of doo-wopping street urchins, Chiffon (Stephanie Amber), Crystal (Lisa Glover), and Ronnette (Carter Minor), underscore and highlight the action, making the most of those characters and leaving an indelible impression. Seymour turns their fortunes around by bringing in a “strange and interesting plant,” they dub Audrey II (voiced by Amber Knicole and puppeteered by Matthew Sierra) which, of course, then turns on them, as the hope to carve out a better life evolves into a monster that must be fed, in a very literal way. 

“One of the great strengths of this production of Little Shop of Horror is its antic, cartoonish energy.”

Thom Christopher Warren and his cast gives enough of a taste of the characters as people, their hopes and dreams, their foibles, to let the audience like them (well, with one giant exception) but doesn’t waste time. One of the great strengths of this production of Little Shop of Horror is its antic, cartoonish energy. The throttle goes down early, with the electric croon of Glover, Amber, and Minor, and never really lets up for a tight two hours (with intermission).  

Warren reinforces the themes of the play in interesting ways. Jason Bolen’s set casts Mushnik’s florist as a flatiron-style building that opens and closes in a way that mirrors the plant in her final form and poverty – but without being heavy-handed or distracting from the comedy and the shimmering score. The three urchins appear above the action as omnipresent figures, appear on a television screen prominently placed with the set, and interact with the characters. 

This cast – with no exceptions – make the Ashman/Menken songs soar, with crucial backing from Music Director Jonathan Collura leading a five-piece band (Collura and Brian Horn on keys, Drew Martin on drums, Zsolt Dvornik on guitar, and a bassist billed as “Guest Musician”). Turner Riley’s Seymour is hard to imagine bettered, between their crystalline tones and their charming chemistry with Mia Angelique’s Audrey. Their voices together raised the hair on my arms, again and again.  

Hartley makes the most out of a hilarious feature as Orin and some subtle physical chemistry as the other characters he chimerically shifts between. And the tandem of Knicole and Sierra help reinforce Audrey II as a character with her own agenda, like all great villains, the star of her own movie. 

I walked in with vague memories of Little Shop of Horrors. I walked out so thoroughly dazzled I stopped on the street to text a close friend for whom it was her first musical and bent the ears of another half-dozen friends on a stop before heading home. It’s a classic entertainment in all the best ways. 

Little Shop of Horrors runs through April 16 with performances at 7:00 pm Thursday through Saturday and 2:00 pm Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit shortnorthstage.org/littleshop.