Little Shop of Horrors, SummerStock Austin at Rollins Theatre, August 1 - 9

SummerStock Austin's joyous production of Little Shop of Horrors gets extra class credit in recognition for its part in re-Americanizing this reviewer.

After last May's production of the same script by the Georgetown Palace Theatre, I took the liberty to grump that theirs was a "Grade A production of a Grade D musical play."

I did explain that unlike the rest of the audience, I had never been exposed to Audreys 1 or 2, either on film or in the theatre. Little Shop didn't travel to places like the Dominican Republic, my last posting abroad, where the musical theatre tastes ran to Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. So I was a blank slate at that time both for Alan Menken's music and Howard Ashman's book and lyrics.

Last Sunday evening we were sitting in the middle of the front row, exhibiting the naive courage of theatre fanatics, so we took the full blast of SummerStock's music, singing, dancing and highly stylized camp. And, you know, seeing a Grade A production of a Grade D musical play up close and personal is a helluva lot of fun.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: Sweeney Todd and Little Shop of Horrors, SummerStock Austin at Rollins Theatre, Long Center, July 30 - August 9

Click for ALT review of Little Shop of Horrors, August 6



Click for ALT review of Sweeney Todd, August 2



UPDATE: Review of "Little Shop" by Rob Faubion, AustinOnStage.com, August 1

UPDATE: Review of "Sweeney Todd" by Clare Croft for Statesman's Austin360 "Seeing Things" blog, July 31

Received directly from SummerStock Austin:

Sweeney Todd

SummerStock Austin is pleased to present this new production of Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, Sweeney Todd, to the Rollins Stage this summer. Sweeney Todd tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, a barber who is driven to seek vengeance upon Judge Turpin and his henchman Beadle Bamford for the death of his wife and evil deeds that may befall his daughter, Johanna. How will he do it?

Come and take a trip with us to the dark streets of London and Mrs. Lovett’s Meat Pie Shop to find out. Includes the songs “Not While I’m Around,” “Pretty Women,” and “A Little Priest.” [Click image for larger version]

Little Shop of Horrors

SummerStock Austin celebrates its fifth season by presenting one of the longest-running Off-Broadway shows of all time, Little Shop of Horrors. This affectionate spoof of 1950s sci-fi movies has become a house-hold name, thanks to a highly successful film version and a score by the songwriting team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who redefined the animated musical film with Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast and Aladdin. Charming, tuneful and hilarious, Little Shop Of Horrors never fails to entertain. [Click image for larger version]

Click for dates, times, ticket link and poster, at AustinLiveTheatre.com

The Little Shop of Horrors, Georgetown Palace, May 1 - 31

The Georgetown Palace does its familiar high-gloss finish on this production with talented actors, a vigorous show orchestra, and an impressively atmospheric functional two-story set presenting Muschnik's shabby flower shop in the even shabbier surroundings of a NYC "Skid Row." The audience appeared to enjoy the goings-on and the six- and eight-year-olds sitting near me in Row B were fascinated by the puppetry for Audry II, the extraterrestrial carnivorous plant out to conquer the world from those humble beginnings.

For me it was a Grade A production of a Grade D musical play.

This story started as the campy 1960s black humor movie shot in two days by Roger Corman, with Jack Nicholson in a minor role. The 1982 success in New York of the musical The Little Shop of Horrors prompted puppeteer Frank Oz to produce a movie version in 1986. The show has made the rounds ever since, usually accompanied by the teeny and the massive versions of Audrey II provided by Character Translations in Pennsylvania, based on designs by Martin P. Robinson, a Jim Henson Master Puppeteer.

I enjoy camp and I enjoy black humor. But in order to appreciate camp, you have to know and relish the art form or the artwork that is being exaggerated to pieces. Relating to this show, one of my blind spots, not shared by the majority of the American public, was cinematic. I don't know much about horror films, alien invasion films or creature films, except for Godzilla and King Kong (in the 1928 version, please). And the other blind spot was Audrey II. When I settled in the front of the Georgetown Palace last Friday, I'd never seen the play or either of the movies. So I was a blank slate for Howard Ashman's book and lyrics, as well as for Alan Menken's music.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com. . . .