Musicals are generally at the very bottom of my Christmas card list, rock music 
is in the sub-basement of my musical enjoyment and anything remotely 
sci-fi is definitely not my “thing."   I was very nervous about 
reviewing this show and almost chickened out.  What a shame that would 
have been, because this proved to be a really excellent, slick and 
humorous, surreal show. The only downside was the sound level.  It was, 
in my opinion, hopelessly over amplified/miced. This had the effect of 
the loud music swamping some of the sung dialogue.  It was sometimes 
painfully loud, and was almost at a dangerous level. A reduction of the 
sound level would have enhanced the show further.  As it was, I think it
 could have been considered irresponsible.
Negative comment dealt with, I have to praise the musicians and musical director for a 
stunning performance and to the lighting team not just for the general 
lighting effect, but for the way both sound and light synchronised.  
Excellent stuff.  Perhaps a little re-positioning of the stage right 
spot turned on the audience would be helpful.  Its use made for a 
wonderfully unexpected and dramatic opening as the dancer/chorus came 
down the side stairs of the auditorium and onto the stage.
The show tells the story of the hapless Seymour (Joshua Jones), a frustrated
 botanist,  who ‘creates’ a strange and magical plant.  The plant 
revolutionises the fortunes of the soon to be bankrupt shopkeeper 
Mushnik.  As his business goes from strength to strength, so the plant 
grows and demands evermore grotesque “feeding”  by Seymour.
The simplicity of the story line allowed for the real development of all the
 characters.  Mushnik was the archetypal, caricature of the “Jewish" 
shop keeper and wonderfully well played by Peter Hart.  He gave a 
consistent, performance both as an actor and singer.  The interplay with
 Seymour especially was totally convincing.
Audrey, (Rachael Ball) has arguably the most difficult role in that she is was the 
“realism” of the piece playing alongside hugely exaggerated characters. 
 It was very well done and her singing enhanced her contribution.  The 
chorus of girls, Sophie Johnstone, Kate Easter and Hannah Bailey, were 
the “continuity girls” of the piece.  They were an extremely strong team
 whether dancing or singing and made an excellent job of keeping the 
story together, They were sometimes joined on stage by the ensemble of 
Alice Baron, Lucy Conway and Danielle McFadden.  Together they filled 
the stage with energy and real showmanship.
Orin Scrivello (Richie Halsey-Watson,) created a wonderfully evil and cruel addition to
 the story and as a beautiful contrast to the fragile and pure sweetness
 of Audrey.  There were elements of Orin in all the little quick change 
cameo roles he played later. This added to the bizarre humour of the 
piece whether it was deliberate or not.  He was super energetic in all 
roles and was super fast in covering his tracks when he momentarily 
stumbled over his words. Well done.
That leaves us with Seymour and Audrey II.  Seymour is a giant role and it was played by Joshua 
Jones. It was supremely well performed.  He created an engaging and 
loveable, inept but thoroughly convincing character.  He gave it his all
 and at the end one’s heart ached for this poor chap who had become the 
victim, in every sense, of his own success.
Without Audrey II, there would have been no story to tell.  Strange as it seems to have a 
plant as central focus of a show, this was definitely what Audrey II 
was.  “She” was the vehicle of some wonderful puppetry by Luke Sparling 
and voiced by Kate Downer who sang her socks, or should that be leaves, 
off.  Lovely and horrible at the same time, it was the icing on a very 
wonderful cake. Humour and skill in a perfect marriage.
No show is complete without some sort of set.  The Nomads have always had 
terrific sets but here the team excelled itself.  A supremely simply 
idea was a genius of an idea.  The “opening book” system revealed the 
outside of the shop and therefore, the street.  Opened up it, the whole 
stage area became the shop.  Half closed it was the closed shop 
revealing some of the interior.  I loved the surreal touch of the 
fretwork “flowers” which were easy to move on and off.  The skeleton 
shelves and such were an added delight.
Holding the whole thing together was the choreography.  This was brilliantly well conceived, 
very slick, well rehearsed and most enjoyable to watch.
The director (Nathan Farrell) is a long time player in the Nomads, but but 
here he showed a real flair as director in the way this show was 
conceived and constructed.  Really excellent stuff.
The show is for young people, by young people and I was left with a sense of hope 
that young people having fun and working hard together could produce 
something so spectacularly enjoyable even to an old, square, 
pseudo-intellectual like me. Thanks to people like you, the
 future is bright. 
Polly

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2015 at 11:10 am and is filed under Theatre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.