Even last-minute improvised emergency lighting couldn’t dim the opening night excitement at Altadena Music Theatre’s all-around fabulous open-air revival of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s 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 mention 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 (James Byous), 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 (Ruby Lewis), 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 swiftly named Audrey II) that he buys $100 worth of roses, and before long, business is booming, the shop’s cranky owner Mr. Mushnik (Mueen Jahan) is considering 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. (Robert Manion).

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,” and the entire Altadena cast does these Menken/Ashman classics the vocal justice they deserve under Chris Wade’s expert music direction.

Leading man Byous proves himself the personification of versatility as our hapless hero, eschewing nerd cliches to give us one of the most genuinely sweet and sincere of the now seventeen Seymours I’ve seen on stage.

Lewis too could not be more adorable as the squeaky-voiced, bleached blonde airhead with a heart of gold that is Audrey, and when she and Byous join voices in “Suddenly Seymour,” the result is passionate perfection.

Jahan a hoot and a half as the gruff, opportunistic Mr. Mushnik, and Auriaa (Ronnette), Avela Fongoqa (Crystal), and Shantilly Tuazon (Chiffon) provide street-smart commentary along the way while belting their hearts out as a trio of sassy, savvy African-American teens who give the Supremes, Vandellas, and Marvelettes a run for their Motown money.

Sarah Azcarate not only directs Little Shop with the imagination and flair of someone who’s be doing this for ages rather than making her directorial debut, she’s done something I at least have never seen before by having the sensational Lord Kraven (think James Brown meets Little Richard) appear live on stage as the human personification of the monstrous Audrey II, allowing Byous’s Seymour to interact with the devilish plant (a humongous example of Chris Runco’s puppet wizardry) in ways traditionally staged production never have before.

Last but not least, Manion delivers the evening’s most scene-stealing performance as an Orin Scrivello DDS whose molasses-thick baritone, cocky attitude, and jelly-roll would do early-1960s Elvis proud if The King were riding high on a mix of speed, coke, and acid, and that’s not counting the four hilariously over-the-top “and Others” the production’s secret weapon plays along the way.

Noel Bajanda’s scores choreographic points for cleverly replicating ‘60s girl-group moves for the three Uchins and making the “Mushnik And Son” tango a bona fide show-stopper while Wade on keys alongside fellow musicians Eddy Barco, Audrey Bean, David Catalan, Andrew Rodman, and Lowell Wolfe provide the rocktasticest of musical accompaniments.

Michael Mullen once again outdoes himself designing character-perfect costumes for an eclectic cast of characters while earning a special shout-out for the Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette’s mix of high school wear and Supremes-ready glamour and glitz.

Design kudos go out too to Andrew Hull (sets), Scarlet Sheppard (wigs), and Rachel Gold (props and set dressing), and if opening nighters didn’t get to see Bosco Flannigan’s lighting design, a last-minute improvisation of battery-powered outdoor lights the theater company happened fortuitously to have on hand not only allowed the show to go on, it gave the production a film noir look that turned out to fit Little Shop’s black-and-white B-movie origins to a T.

Byous is fight choreographer. Olivia Riddle is stage manager and Elisa-Belle Tremblay is assistant stage manager. Bouquet Fingerhut is production manager and Ernest McDaniel is technical director. Ken Werther is publicist.

I’ve now seen seventeen Little Shops (with an eighteenth on the way two weeks from now) and its latest incarnation is among the best and most original of the bunch. Make that two Altadena Music Theatre smashes in a row!

Altadena Music Theatre at Mountain View, 2300 N. Marengo Ave, Altadena. Through September 13. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 8:00.
www.altadenamusictheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
September 3, 2026
Photos: Abel Armas Photography

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Tags: Alan Menken, Altadena Music Theatre, Howard Ashman, Los Angeles Theater Review