Play Review - Little Shop of Horrors

Back in the year 1960, a film by Roger Corman made its way to television and became one of the most popular musicals of the decade. Little Shop of Horrors, originally directed by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken was produced in New York City in 1982. Fortunately enough, the play was reborn by a group of young students who attend the Arts at the Capitol Theatre program located in Willimantic, CT. This time around the play that was put on for audiences to view was Little Shop of Horrors. The story follows luckless hero Seymour Krelborn in his search for fame and love all while battling with the deadly sin of Greed. Seymour is a botanist trying to become recognized for creating a plant called the Audrey II. He works with a crotchety woman named Mrs. Mushnik and begins to fall in love with a girl with a dangerous boyfriend, Audrey. The plant begins to grow and become more dangerous to Seymour and his acquaintances as the story continues and towards the end it shows that the monster has taken over and presented what greed can do to a person. The story includes "The Ronnettes", a group of three girls who lead the audience through Seymour's journey for fame and love and constantly warning people to not feed the plant.

The play was tackled by Director Sandra Evans-Abbott and Music Director Katherine Popovic. The students in the academy were very excited to take on this popular 1960's comedy/drama. Opening night for the show was March 5 and it continues through Sunday, March 8. Taking the lead as Seymour Krelborn was Joey Schweizer and standing next to him as co lead playing Audrey was Aimee-Rose Willett. The two actors sang the popular duet "Suddenly Seymour" which the crowd enjoyed. Both of the teens had good chemistry on stage and put on an excellent performance. Mrs. Mushnik, played by Anna Nassiff was a humorous character to have throughout the play and Orin Scrivello or D.D.S played by Chris Richard who sings a nasty song as he nears his end on Nitrous Oxide made the crowd laugh non stop. Also adding entertainment and emotion to the play was Kelly Kissane as the voice of the plant who also sung during some of the scenes. The Ronnettes, Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette were played by Laure Gorman, Brianna Bagley and Emili Meikle.

The cast and technical crew at ACT showed the audience a stunning show and were proud that they could reenact the famous musical that had everyone talking.