It’s just a silly rock musical about an overgrown, flesh-eating plant from outer space. And while its strange, cosmic plot drips with an ultramod sensibility marked by black humor and a flair for indulgent histrionics, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s seedy little foray into science fiction is as all-American as apple pie and alley cats.
It’s a wonder how Charles Griffith’s 1960 screenplay became the stuff of music theater dreams, but with such an infectious, gleefully singable score and memorable characterizations — both in the original flick directed by Roger Corman and in the 1986 remake by Frank Oz — “Little Shop of Horrors” is also the stuff of comedy legend.
First and foremost is the music. Menken’s flavorful doo-wop- and Motown-inspired sound informs Ashman’s nearly genius manipulation of lyrics, and if you’ve never bothered with the stage incarnation, Mark Waldrop’s new production for the Olney Theatre Center is an ideal introduction to such weird and witty wordplay.
Then there’s the bizarre B-movie book, an odd little fable centered around one Seymour Krelborn, a lonely orphan employed at a flower shop run by a cranky old geezer whose business is slumping. Enter a “strange and interesting plant” with a singular lust for blood, and “zowee powee holy cow, Seymour ordered up a rainbow to go!” Suddenly, fame, fortune and romance are his for the taking. The only problem is that as his prized plant grows, so does its monstrous appetite.
| Onstage |
| ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ |
| Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney |
| When: Through Sept. 9 |
| Info: $26 to $54; 301-924-3400; olneytheatre.org |
With a little creative puppetry and a whole lot of imagination, Waldrop’s superb cast seizes every juicy, cheesy, blood-sucking moment to dazzling effect. As the evening’s centerpiece, James Gardiner is a quintessential Seymour, and his bumbling but effortlessly charming “mensch” is matched by Carolyn Agan’s pitch-perfect Audrey. Under the astute musical direction of Ross Scott Rawlings, the duo soars over “Suddenly Seymour” with pop-rock panache, and Agan’s meek little lamb sweetly ambles her way through a lilting and lazy “Somewhere That’s Green.”
Waldrop’s ensemble is uniformly impressive, but Bobby Smith takes on the indisputable lion’s share of roles, from his zany gas-puffing dentist to various vagabonds and other assorted denizens of Skid Row. And while his astonishing agility is a consistent delight, the most intriguing work is carried out by the actors hired solely to animate the “leaves” of a rapidly blooming Audrey II.
Featuring perfect set design from James Fouchard and bright, inspired costumes by David Kaley, Olney’s “Little Shop” quickly transports us to a wickedly funny world of absolutes, where good and bad are indistinguishable from right and wrong, and the only ruling maxim of the day is a rallying chorus reminding us not to feed that which grows on carnal desire.
