MAGNA — Little Shop of Horrors is a modern retelling of the Faust legend framed as a quaint show about an unassuming man who comes in contact with a “strange and interesting plant”. The ensuing misadventures at their flower shop can only be described as horrors. With music by Alan Menken and lyrics and book written by Howard Ashman, this show is a cult classic. The 60’s rock mixed with doo-wop style bring an unforgettable flavor to the ear. The Empress Theatre in Magna has put together a cute and sincere show that can be enjoyed by all ages and experience levels.
The production starts in director Nanny McKenzie’s vision of skid row, including Mushnik’s Skid Row Floral Shop, which remains a constant feature in the show. The constant of the flower shop makes for easy scene transitions and less chaos in the confined space of The Empress’s traverse stage space. This decision was advantageous for several reasons, the biggest of which seems to be that with an extremely small cast, there are less bodies to move items. The cast and small stage crew handled all transitions and scene changes well.
As the story begins, we are welcomed by a trio of street urchins with character and pizzazz. Crystal (Michelle Frierson) Ronnette (Rebecca Meats) and Chiffon (Leyla Vave) are full of life and intensity despite their life on Skid Row. These urchins become our guides through the story and have many background songs, and several featured songs. Their first introduction in ‘Skid Row’ was a great example of these actors’ fantastic vocals throughout. The constant element among this trio is their exceptional vocal work. There were several times in their performance that felt they were relying on the sound, hoping that lack of emotion or choreography would go unnoticed. Overall their performance as a group was good, with some room for improvement and consistency…