ARTS

REVIEW: LITTLE SHOP OF HORROR

BY MARK FOLKMAN
Contributing Writer

PHOTOS BY NATHAN WEYLAND

“Little Shop Of Horrors” has traditionally set a lot of records. The hokey Roger Corman horror flick laid claim to being the fastest movie ever shot when it opened in 1960 and was filmed in just two days. The 1982 musical, adapted from Corman’s film by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, remains the highest-grossing musical in off-Broadway history.

City College instructors Deborah Shaw and Michael Shahani’s production of the smash musical ended its two-week run at the Diego Rivera Theater on March 6.

“Little Shop Of Horrors” could easily have been forgotten among the hundreds of drive-in horror films that comprise Corman’s oeuvre — yet its quirky, over-the-top screenplay by Charles B. Griffith and stand-out performance by Jack Nicholson in one of his earliest movie roles cemented the film’s status as a camp classic.

In 1982, collaborators Menken and Ashman took inspiration from the film and staged their musical version of “Little Shop Of Horrors” at the WPA Theater in New York’s East Village. Blending musical and storytelling elements of ‘60s pop-rock, doo-wop, sci-fi B-movies and classic Greek tragedy, the production was met with astonishing critical and commercial success. It later moved to the Orpheum Theater off-Broadway, before completing its five-year run.

“Little Shop Of Horrors” tells the story of Seymour and Audrey, star-crossed co-workers who listlessly toil in a skid-row flower shop. Timid loser Seymour fantasizes about a better life and secretly carries a torch for Audrey, a stereotypical dumb blonde who is mostly oblivious to Seymour’s affection because she’s having trouble with her abusive dentist boyfriend.

But when Seymour acquires a strange exotic plant, their fortunes change. The wonderful plant, named Audrey II, garners Seymour and the flower shop unprecedented fame and flower shop unprecedented fame and attention. However, when Audrey II comes to life and starts demanding to be fed human blood, Seymour fails to heed the danger and unstoppable forces catapult the play to its grisly end.

The wildly popular 1986 movie adaptation, directed by Frank Oz and starring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin, faithfully reproduced the musical’s charm and campy excess, but test audiences wanted a happy ending. The movie’s final scenes were re-shot and released with a stark contrast to the stage production’s ending.

For the City College production, director/choreographer Shaw pledges fidelity to the original, more gruesome (and perhaps more satisfying)
closing chapter.

“We’re going with the sad ending,” Shaw unapologetically declares. “Everybody gets killed in this.”

Shaw is thrilled to be staging the production. Although limited by a tight budget, the exuberant performers and creative staging promise a visually and musically stunning production, including the scene-stealing monster plant (mobilized by a live puppeteer).

With two-thirds of the cast and all of the tech crew comprised of City College students, the production also boasts the school’s signature stamp of a uniquely diverse mix of talent. “I have high expectations,” Shaw says.

The lead roles are played by Susan Clark as Audrey and Matthew Lazzarini as Seymour.

Clark, a former City College student, is a veteran performer who has enjoyed working with musical director Shahani in the past and is elated to be bringing Audrey to the stage.

“She’s a very naive innocent (girl) who has established a set of survival skills that are based on commercials and television and movie stars in order to be in this world that’s outside of her grueling reality,” Clark says.

She hopes that her portrayal of Audrey’s plight will shed light on the resilient women of the ‘50s and ‘60s who had limited opportunities yet strove for a better existence.

Lazzarini, a current San Francisco State University theater major, describes similar struggles in his character.

“Seymour looks up to Audrey and strives to have her in his life. He’s always trying to attain things but not getting anywhere … he’s very vulnerable, but he has a courage about him that he doesn’t see in himself.”

Above all, Lazzarini says he wants audiences to see that Seymour — and the play itself — has a heart.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Clark warns, leaving the audience room to form their own opinions. One thing, however, remains certain: “Don’t feed the plants.”