Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS IS FIVE-STAR FIENDISH FERNERY AND FEROCIOUSLY FUNNY at Roslyn Packer Theatre

It's a classic fairy-tale. Boy meets Girl. Girl likes Boy. Girl has abusive boyfriend who thrives on orthodontic agony. Boy has abusive plant who thrives on human blood. Boy feeds boyfriend to plant and becomes world famous. Yeah, in hindsight, it's not exactly your classic fairy-tale.

Little Shop of Horrors was the unlikely stage hit that launched the careers of legendary Disney-duo Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Based on the 1960 film about a dweeb florist's assistant and his alien vampiric plant, the 1982 musical became famous for its inspired doo-wop numbers, boldfaced humour and puppetry of the Audrey II. It was made into a cult film with a happier ending in 1986 and there was even an early-90s TV show, the concept has proved so popular. The last official revival was in London 2006 so it was about time our shores got another round of Suppertime.

The formula for Hayes Theatre Company's success in an ever-starving arts industry is one of apparently clarified and shrewd genius amongst its creative team. Taking large musical and turning them into intimate events, which draws in the theatregoer keen for a new way to experience an old favourite. Then you blitz the audience with fantastic performances by emerging artists, generating that community pilgrimage, and when it gets the hype behind it, tour the thing around the country then return to Sydney better than ever transformed into its original big-house glory! Without complicating it with what I'm sure are a messy myriad of other factors, it's a great thing Hayes have forged for themselves and are sure to cement for years to come, a hub of activity and opportunity for Australia's aspiring triple threats.

Speaking of, they've truly outdone themselves with the cast on this one, pay in blood for tickets if you must! Of course, the anything-but-unsung heroes of the show are its sassy streetwalker narrators: Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronette, played by the hilarious Angelique Cassimatis, brassy Josie Lane and showstopper Chloe Zuel. Mention must be made here to the choreo-comedy gold of Andrew Hallsworth whose mark on the individualised but harmonised stage motion is unmistakeable. Scott Johnson as vindictive and violent Orin was creepily believable; a natural stage talent who pulled off sexy and scary with the greatest, most salacious of ease. Playing the manipulative Mr Mushnik, Tyler Coppin pushed the character to its limits, ensuring he was not lost in the action but rose to the level of humour for an almost vaudevillian display of dance and drama.

In the lead romantic roles of Seymour and Audrey is where this production didn't just entertain, but knocked the roof off the Roslyn Packer, no ravenous fly-trap-avocado required. Esther Hannaford has been a rising star for some years now, and this is a role made for her equally delicate and powerhouse voice. Brent Hill had every awkwardness and sweetness locked down for Seymour, breaking the hearts of a not a few Audience members, and I have never seen an actor voice-double as Seymour and Audrey II - absolutely fantastic and worth seeing. The two of them brought the emotional depth as well, which is important for this madcap show to still hit home - Hill's solo for The Meek Shall Inherit and Hannaford's Somewhere That's Green are tear-jerking ecstasy. As Audrey, Hannaford brought the best of Ellen Greene but incorporated her own one-slice-short, giddy genuineness that made the character completely adorable and welcomely dispensed with the unlikely-couple tropes the original productions haven't been able to avoid.

This reviewer is not liberal with five-star reviews, but there was not one moment of this show I didn't enjoy or want to move on, especially a surprise guest in the opening! Another standout factor was the band, Andrew Worboys refusing to rest on any laurels to deliver the punchy score. Owen Phillips' design, paired with Tim Chappel's unique costuming for the super Oz-inspired transition from monochrome to technicolour brought another level of fun and fantasy. Even the lighting took its own bows! Congratulations to director Dean Bryant for yet another bejewelled crown. Final platitudes go, as they always should, to Erth Visual & Physical Inc who were responsible for the leafy, larger than life, lethal Audrey II puppet. Take your mother, kill your mother, whatever it takes to get yourself a seat for this homicidal, horticultural, harmonic prodigy, do it. Da doo.

Images by Jeff Busby.
Tickets available here.

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