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Little Shop of Horrors is a musical with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menkin. It is the story of a strange plant that finds a home in a florist shop on Skid Row. Its thirst for blood threatens to take over the world.

The cast of Little Shop gave a good solid performance. They had the songs down and the choreography seemed to come as second nature. The Audrey II Puppet was brought down from New York and designed by Martin P. Robinson.

Seymour (Ryan Schaffer) had a quirkiness about him that engaged the audience and made you feel his pain and guilt. The love of his life Audrey (Kathleen McCormick) did well with keeping the New York accent throughout the evening. In her song “Somewhere That’s Green” she portrayed a sincerity that really brought out the emotion in the song. She portrayed the roll as a small town girl trying to make it in the big city, but kept getting knocked around (literally) by life.

The floral shop owner, Mr. Mushnik, was played by Carl Bowman. As Seymour was quirky and awkward, Mr. Mushnik was just plain uptight. Bowman’s mannerisms and facial expressions were classic. He brought an energy to the role of Mushnik through his interactions with both Audrey and Seymour.

One interesting thing was the volume of the performance. The canned music was soft and although none of the performers ever really belted it out (except for maybe “Suddenly, Seymour”) there were times when the singers were louder than the music and may have thrown the tempo off.

The Lazy Susan set is wide, but not terribly deep. This set used three areas that either rotated or slid back and forth in place. The area on stage right could be rotated to become a dentist office or part of the alley on Skid Row. The center section was the florist shop and the actors were good about using the door to go out and keeping that fourth wall separate. The cast rotated the set effectively. Special lighting, designed by Jeanne Forbes, for the solos also helped heighten the mood.

Janelle Delany as Chiffon, Dena Kolb as Crystal, and Christina Sanchez as Ronette	Ryan Schaffer as Seymour Krelborn and Carl Bowman as Mr. Mushnik
Ryan Schaffer as Seymour Krelborn and Audrey II, as voiced by Antonio Bullock and puppeteered by George Rouse

Photos by Hans Bachmann for the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre

Cast

• Seymour: Ryan Schaffer/Mark Hamburger
• Audrey: Kathleen McCormick/Tara Leigh Moore
• Audrey II (Voice) Antonio Bullock
• Manipulation: George Rouse
• Chiffon: Janelle Delany
• Crystal: Dena Kolb/Richelle (Rikki) Howie
• Ronnette: Christina Sanchez
• Mr.Mushnik: Carl Bowman
• Orin Scrivello/Mr. Martin/M.Luce: Christopher Culosi
• Bernstein/Ensemble: Katherine Lipovsky
• Skip Snip/Ensemble: Tony Turchiano
• Understudies
• Audrey II: Patrick Doneghy
• Chiffon: Tracy Lu
• Ronnette: Katherine Lipovsky
• Mr. Mushnik: Lyle Blake Smythers
• Orin Scrivello: Tony Turchiano
• Bernstein: Tracy Lu

Crew

• Director: Hans Bachmann
• Producers: Harold E. Gates, Glenn D. Gates
• Assistant Director: Jeffrey Davis
• Stage Manager: George Rouse
• Lighting Designer: Jeanne Forbes
• Musical & Vocal Director: John Edward Niles
• Costumer: Hans Bachmann
• Set: Reggie Eusebio, Aaron Richardson, George Rouse, Linda Shaw, Josh Smith
• Tech: Reggie Eusebio, Aaron Forbes, Jeanne Forbes, Jesse Forbes, Danielle McBride