Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists are open for business out Santa Monica way in Morgan-Wixson Theatre’s solid revival of the 1982 cult musical classic Little Shop Of Horrors.

Spoofing such 1950s B-movie horror flicks as Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Creature From The Black Lagoon, and It Came From Outer Space, not to forget the 1960 black-and-white, non-musical sci-fi comedy of the same name on which it is based, Little Shop Of Horrors introduces us to orphan Seymour Krelborn (Patrick Olsen), longtime clerk at the crummiest and least successful flower shop in town … but perhaps not for too much longer, given how pitiful business is of late.

Fortunately for Seymour and his bimbo-with-a-heart-of-gold coworker Audrey (Jess LaFever), the first customer they’ve had in days is so charmed and fascinated by the “strange and interesting plant” sitting in the store window (one that Seymour just happened to find soon after a total eclipse of the sun and quickly named Audrey II) that he buys $100 worth of roses, and before long, business is booming, the shop’s cranky owner Mr. Mushnik (Marc Ostroff) is thinking of adopting Seymour, the latter is finding it harder and harder to think of the lovely Audrey as a mere work colleague, and Audrey is wondering if Seymour might just be the knight in armor who can rescue her from her sadistic dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello D.D.S. (Brian O’Sullivan).

There’s just one problem with Audrey II. It has a craving for blood, human blood, and the drops Seymour provides from his increasingly ravaged fingers are soon nowhere near enough to satisfy its cravings. Audrey II wants a body’s worth of blood, and it wants Seymour to supply it posthaste.

As in their later Disney collaborations The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast, composer Alan Menken and book writer/lyricist Howard Ashman display a knack for creating one instantly hummable, cleverly worded song after another, from the catchy doo-wop show-opener “Skid Row (Downtown)” to the heartstrings-tugging “Somewhere That’s Green” to the uber-romantic “Suddenly Seymour,” performed at the Morgan-Wixson by a uniformly vocally strong cast under Esin Aydingoz’s assured musical direction.

Having responded with promptness and grace to some originally announced casting missteps, the Morgan-Wixson gives audiences its most diversity-celebrating production to date, helmed by women of color (director D’Shaun A. Booker, who ensures character depth beneath the laughs, and choreographer Mori Edwards, who cleverly replicates ‘60s girl-group moves and throws in a nifty “Mushnik And Son” tango along the way) and featuring a trio of African-American teens (the cute, sassy, and vocally talented Tyra Dennis as Crystal, FreXinet Johnson as Chiffon, and Brayon Rollison as Ronnette) who keep popping up to comment on the action and sing backup to do The Crystals, The Ronettes, and The Chiffons proud.

In his first role since a series of memorable featured turns at USC, 2018 Trojan grad Olsen is everything a Seymour Krelborn should be, as nerdishly endearing as he is vocally blessed, and recent Bay Area transfer LaFever’s sweet dumb blonde Audrey has power pipes that need no amplification to reach the Morgan-Wixson’s back row.

O’Sullivan not only gets to be a weird and wacky Orin Scrivello DDS but shows off added comedic chops in an abundance of cameos including the eccentric flower shop customer who sets it all in motion and a magazine editor’s high-society wife, while Ostroff gives Mushnik plenty of avuncular charm, and dances a mean tango with his adopted boychik in “Mushnik And Sons.”

Steven Flowers voices Audrey II with a big, soulful baritone and Matthew Artson takes charge of manipulating Audrey from deep inside the plant (Aric Martin is puppet trainer), and both join Aydingoz onstage as opening-number skid row denizens.

Chris Tiernan’s costumes earn the evening’s biggest design cheers, in particular the ever more sophisticated outfits sported by Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon.

Tom Brown has designed a appropriately grungy florist shop effectively lit by William Wilday but forgets to give it any “Closed For Renovations” renovations. (An above-the-proscenium slide show of ‘60s girl groups and ‘50s sci-fi/horror pics, on the other hand, does prove a clever touch, and Audrey II is nothing if not a voracious visual treat.)

Dentist Orin’s outrageously over-the-top drill and gas mask earn points for properties designer Hazellette Garner, but a batteryless wall clock suggests that time only moves forward between scenes. (Spring for a AA, please,)

As in Morgan-Wixson musicals past, performers sing unamped to prerecorded tracks. This time round, however, there’s a clear drop in the theater’s normally outstanding acoustics in scenes played from the too-far-back florist shop, though fortunately not when things move downstage.

Little Shop Of Horrors is produced by Spencer Johnson, Tiernan is associate producer, and Ashley DeFrancesco and Daniel Gaitan are assistant producers. Wilday is technical director. Evelyn Myers is production stage manager and Ruby Lapeyre is assistant stage manager.

Quibbles aside, the Morgan-Wixson’s Little Shop Of Horrors once more blurs the lines between community and professional theaters. The cast and crew may do it all for love, but once again in their latest musical comedy gem, what they do for love yields considerable entertainment rewards.

Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica.
www.morgan-wixson.org

–Steven Stanley
March 24, 2019
Photos: JDCphotography

Tags: Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Los Angeles Theater Review, Morgan-Wixson Theatre