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Stage

The campy, delicious 'Horrors' of it all

American Stage in the Park sets up Shop on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront. It's a hoot.

By John Fleming
Published April 17, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Bob Croslin] In American Stage's Little Shop of Horrors, Seymour is played by Joey Panek and Orin is played by Christopher Swan.

"Feed me!"

People who go to Little Shop of Horrors will be repeating that line for days after the show. Delivered by Sharon Scott in a deep, guttural shout worthy of Big Mama Thornton or Aretha Franklin, it is the demand of Audrey II, the flytrap that embarks on world conquest from a Skid Row flower shop in this year's edition of American Stage in the Park.

Scott is the voice and Charles McKenzie is the body of the green monster, and though neither performer is seen until the curtain call, they steal the show with their uncanny coordination. The bizarre sight of the plant's enormous red mouth flapping in synch with Scott's bluesy singing and sarcasm is hilarious.

The script suggests that the voice of Audrey II be done by a man Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops in the 1986 movie, but Scott's performance is so good that it actually makes you rethink the casting. It is even funnier than usual to have a woman's voice bossing around Seymour, the botanical boy genius who must supply his bloodthirsty hybrid with entrees like leg of dentist.

Little Shop of Horrors, with music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, should be a hit for American Stage, which could use one after the tepid reception for last year's park show, Crowns. Not only is it a known quantity, inspired by a 1960 Roger Corman B-movie and now a perennial favorite of high school drama clubs and community theaters, but this production, seen in a sold-out performance Saturday night, is a delight. It has a stellar cast of actor-singers who know how to land a witty line - and there are many laughs to be had from the late Ashman's brilliant dialogue, which is saturated with pop culture savvy and campy dark humor. Steven Flaa directed with just the right mix of silliness and seriousness.

Kelly Atkins seems born to play Audrey, the sales clerk with a past who doesn't think she's good enough for Seymour. With Betty Boop mannerisms, making her hip-swiveling entrance to a tick-tock rhythm from the band, she is comic and touching and glamorous all at once in her yearning aria to a better life, Somewhere That's Green.

Joey Panek demonstrates great versatility as Seymour, jaunty and carefree in his doo-wop account of coming across the weird plant that he names Audrey II after a total eclipse of the sun, sweet and sincere in his passionate duet with Audrey, Suddenly Seymour.

One of the most enjoyable features of the show is the Motown-style girl group (Katti Christopher, Terri Crymes, Sara Delbeato) that acts as a raffish Greek chorus. They get things off to a great start with the infectious title tune and then dive right into Downtown, which grows into a sophisticated eight-part vocal ensemble by the whole company. For all its catchy pop hooks, the score is loaded with classic musical theater numbers such as Call Back in the Morning and The Meek Shall Inherit.

Christopher Swan plays Audrey's sadistic boyfriend, a motorcycle dentist who gets his star turn in the rollicking Dentist ("Leader of the Plaque," the girls chime in) and eventually his comeuppance from Audrey II. Joe Parra is not much of a singer, but he's got his shtick down pat as the florist Mushnik, who adopts Seymour before winding up as plant food.

Intimacy challenge

As much fun as Little Shop of Horrors is, the outdoor setting sometimes overwhelms intimate moments. Suddenly Seymour is played huge, with Audrey and Seymour belting out declarations of love from opposite sides of the vast stage, like two ships passing in the night. More imaginative choreography would have helped the show, which doesn't have a lot of dancing except for the girl group's moves. Director Flaa was also the choreographer.

The set design by Todd Olson and John Malolepsy is blandly functional and does little to evoke Skid Row. Ben Williams provides the excellent lurid lighting. Musical director Alan Jay Corey and a four-piece band (two keyboards, drums, guitar) go from straight-ahead rock to fervent gospel to cheesy underscoring with suave aplomb.

Body mikes can be perilous outdoors, especially with a stiff breeze coming off Tampa Bay, as there was on Saturday night. Presumably to avoid any problems, the company treated the picnicking crowd to a sample of the show 45 minutes before it began when the cast came onstage in street clothes for a sound check. A preview on Thursday had dreadful sound, but Saturday's show went off well. The only hitch came when the sound cut out during Seymour's plea to a wilted Audrey II, Grow for Me. To Panek's credit, in what had to be an unnerving stretch of virtual silence, he kept on performing, a fine display of grace under pressure.

John Fleming can be reached at (727) 893-8716 or fleming@sptimes.com.

Shop of Horrors: The American Stage in the Park production runs through May 6 at Demens Landing, 100 First Ave. SE (at the downtown waterfront), St. Petersburg. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. $11-$26. Children 12 and younger are free. (727) 823-7529; www.americanstage.org.

[Last modified April 16, 2007, 16:57:35]