In June the Waipawa Municipal Theatre performed the 80’s classic ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
The production follows the story of a young nerdy man named Seymour, who is an assistant in a small florist located in a poor, dirty, downtown New York. Just when the florist is about to go out of business the receptionist Audrey reminds Seymour that he is on the cusp of a scientific breakthrough as he had created a one-of-a-kind plant. This plant was then named Audrey II, named after Seymour's infatuation with his co-worker. The plant boosted the business and pulled them out of the financial ‘dumps.’ However, the twist is that the plant could only be fed blood, human blood!
Wow! Where to start?
Well as I entered the theatre the big red curtain was down and had the ‘little shop of horrors’ logo projected on it. The atmosphere was electric and truly built- up excitement. Then the curtain rose, and the orchestra began to play. WOW just WOW the opening number was incredible and they grabbed my attention within seconds. The cast was small yet beyond powerful, their singing was moving and left me with goose bumps all over my body. What was so moving about the entire production was the passion displayed by the cast and everyone else involved, you could feel that everyone was happy to be there and that they were comfortable. Seymour held the audience in his hands and was just pulling on our heartstrings.
Now to the real star of the show... the plant! I would love to see the facial expressions of the audience when the plant began to move and grow, it was magical the way this ‘thing’ came to life. Not only was the plant magical but the sets were amazing and were very deceptive in the sense that they had made the stage appear as it was an entire ally way.
Then there were the costumes, in the beginning they were humbling clothes that fit the time period perfectly, as time went on and characters grew and evolved so too did their clothes, to the point where the audience was laughing as some of the absurd things people were wearing.
The lighting added a depth to the show that elevated it and made the audience feel as though they too were part of the show. However, the thingI cannot move past was the music! It was BEAUTIFUL and captivated me and the rest of the audience. The songs were so delicate yet carried so much power.
At the end of the day the Waipawa Municipal Theatres recreation of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ was a phenomenal show that I would recommend and is an experience that I don't think the audience will ever experience again!
