By Timothy Ruppert
If Point Park University alerts Seymour Krelborn to the frost advisory currently in effect for Pittsburgh, let’s hope he doesn’t put Audrey II out on Forbes Avenue overnight—we would miss a terrific new production of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s hilarious musical, Little Shop of Horrors.
Admittedly, the diffident but loveable florist Seymour (Braden Max Stroppel) has good reason to wish the otherworldly plant Audrey II (Bianca Dixon) out of his life. A bloom with vampiric tendencies and a taste for human beings, Audrey II happens into Seymour’s hands after a solar eclipse takes place. Seymour names the plant for his secret love, Audrey (Mariana Sarmento), who works with him at a nearly bankrupt Skid Row flower shop owned by the often-irascible Mr. Mushnik (Konstantin Kipshidze). When Mushnik allows Seymour to display the plant in the street-side window, the shop’s fortunes take an instant turn for the better—seemingly. Soon enough, though, Audrey II’s sinister thirsts compel Seymour to seek out sustenance for her, leading him to plan the murder of Audrey’s sadistic dentist-boyfriend, Dr. Orin Scrivello (Logan Johnson). After Orin dies of a nitrous oxide overdose, Seymour gives his remains to Audrey II, initiating a terrible sequence of events that intensifies the chaos at Mushnik’s shop even as it betters the profits beyond what anyone could have imagined.
Like Cats or Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors is an eccentric masterpiece that asks a lot of its performers and technical staff. The cast and crew of this Point Park offering have the vision and commitment to make it succeed. As Seymour, Stroppel commands the stage without ever losing the thread of his character’s charming forlornness as it evolves from “Grow For Me” to “Suddenly Seymour” and beyond. Sarmento sings goldenly, most notably in her gorgeous rendition of “Somewhere That’s Green.” Kipshidze anchors the triumvirate of principals with a fine sense of world-weariness tempered with a quiet compassion and an inclination to hope against hope. Johnson delights as Orin, finding the essential vein of humor in his sometimes polite but always cruel character. Chiffon (Kat Bruce), Crystal (Mia Laverne), and
Ronette (Kendal Williams) comprises a savvy, skeptical chorus whose lovely voices and enthusiastic performances endow this production with a graceful cohesion. Dixon ensures that Audrey II plays as funny as she is menacing—no mean achievement for a character in which 1930s horror cinema meets 1960s Motown brilliance. And, of course, Luka DePasquale, Madyn Harris, and Jo Welch do excellent work with Stella Frazer’s strikingly designed puppets. The production staff, under Michael Campayno’s sure-handed direction, deserves recognition, with the work of dance captain Jayla McDonald, choreographer Latrea Rembert, and sound designer Zach Moore particularly notable. Add in a splendid orchestra conducted by Camille Villalpando Rolla, and the formula for an outstanding evening is complete.
As this new spring brings old temperatures back to the region, remember to bring in your plants—unless you find Audrey II among them. If you do, please have her go to the Pittsburgh Playhouse right away. She has songs to sing and murders to commit for Point Park’s exceptional interpretation of Little Shop of Horrors.
—TR
“Little Shop of Horrors” runs through 3 May at the PNC Theatre, Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222. For more information, please visit https://playhouse.pointpark.edu/shows-events/conservatory-theatre/Little-Shop-of-Horrors/.
