Little Shop of Horrors
at Eastglen

Reviewed on May 6, 2016

Lauren Belter
Strathcona High School
Submitted for publication to Edmonton Journal 1

Living downtown on Skid Row is no picnic. Business is lousy, the folks are broke, and places that are green are hard to come by; that is, until a bloodthirsty fly-trap starts growing from the little flower shop next door and life in the slums changes for good. Rooted in dark comedy and blooming with energy, Eastglen's performance of Little Shop of Horrors was sadistically and hilariously entertaining.

The sun is shining on the urban slum Skid Row, where geeky, amateur florist Seymour toils day and night to create something successful out of his "nobody" life. What he creates instead is a catastrophe: a rapidly growing alien fly-trap named Audrey II with a hunger for human blood. Based on the 1960 black-comedy film of the same name, Little Shop of Horrors features rock 'n' roll tunes composed by Alan Menken and a killer script by Howard Ashman. The hit musical ran for five years in the Orpheum Theatre off Broadway and still remains smashingly popular today.

Playing the hapless orphan down on his luck, Malik Hinton was endearing and exciting as Seymour. His show-stopping vocals were consistently strong, especially in fan-favourite songs like Grow for Me and Suddenly, Seymour. Hinton's quirky physicals complemented his compelling emotional range, pulling off with charisma both the comedy and drama of the show.

As Seymour's fellow florist Audrey, Hailee Elkow was stunning, complete with an angelic voice and a sweet, romantic chemistry with Hinton that the audience could not resist. Her ballad Somewhere That's Green, budding with dark foreshadowing, was engaging and delightful. Caycee Surgeson also impressed as floral shop owner Mrs. Mushnik, a role originally written for a man that she easily made her own with hilarious comedic timing and a charming accent.

The hungry horror of Skid Row, Aubrey II, was brought exuberantly to life by dynamic duo Samuel Brown Weasel and Bethany Urban. From off-stage, Brown Weasel provided the suave and sultry vocals for the carnivorous creature, commanding the theatre with only his voice. In the belly of the beast, Urban manipulated the massive prop in perfect sync, always breathing, growing, and devouring to keep the ravenous fly-trap thriving on-stage.

A diverse and dynamic ensemble of characters, from bumbling drunks to misfit urchins, worked together to sing, dance, and narrate the strange happenings on Skid Row. The cast made good use of their brickwork set to build up their grim world, and their group numbers, although occasionally drowned out by the lively orchestra, were energetic and chilling.

Although the ending was far from happy, the enthusiasm of the show left smiles planted on every face. Eastglen's production of Little Shop of Horrors had an unstoppable energy that never stopped growing, and a dark comedy that left its audience hungry for more.

Julia Stanski
Archbishop MacDonald High School
Submitted for publication to Edmonton Journal 2

Life on Skid Row has not been kind to Seymour. A dead-end job, a sarcastic boss, unrequited love and now a satanic plant for good measure. In Eastglen High School's dynamic production of Little Shop of Horrors, the story of this lovable underdog and his bloodthirsty vegetable was brought to life with vibrant energy and delightfully dark humour.

From its first incarnation as a 1960s B-movie, Little Shop of Horrors became a musical in 1982 thanks to famous Disney composers Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. It ran Off-Broadway for five years, winning a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical, and was followed by a popular 1986 film version. Set in a flower shop in the slums, the story follows the unlikely hero Seymour, as a weird little plant wins him fame, fortune and the girl of his dreams; at a price. Audrey II, named after the love of his life, shows a strange penchant for human blood. As its size and appetite increase, so do the sacrifices required to appease it.

Eastglen's hilarious high-energy production was anchored by the unmistakeable talent and chemistry of its lead performers. They undertook the challenge of playing well-known and beloved characters with originality, skilfully bringing their own interpretations to the roles, and tackled the material with the perfect mixture of comic levity and emotional weight.

Malik Hinton stole the show with his incredible portrayal of the well-meaning Seymour. Capturing hearts with his endearing charm, fumbling physicality and flawless accent, he also delivered a depth of emotion and characterization that was truly remarkable. His gorgeous powerhouse voice commanded the stage in every one of his songs, and his sweet chemistry with Audrey (played winsomely by Hailee Elkow) was a highlight.

No story is complete without a villain, and this production was amply stocked. Samuel Brown Weasel impressed and repulsed as sadistic dentist Orin, selling his number with swagger and style, while simultaneously voicing the Audrey II puppet. His steady teamwork with Bethany Urban, who manipulated the plant, made it into a terrifying character of its own. Mrs. Mushnik, the aged proprietor of the flower shop, was played with deadpan humour by Caycee Surgeson and contrasted effectively by Elkow's timid portrayal of downtrodden Audrey. Both actresses' vocals carried confidence and conviction. Though audibility and sound balancing posed occasional challenges, the cast's boundless energy sustained the excitement throughout the show.

Effective technical choices helped create the ugly urban world of Skid Row. Adept student-done makeup adjusted actors' ages and contributed to character, while dramatic lighting invoked different emotions, turning bright red each time the plant claimed another victim.

Bright, boisterous and remarkably bloody, Eastglen's blackly comedic production of Little Shop of Horrors provided a tongue-in-cheek look at the dream of escape, the sacrifices of love and the danger of feeding the plants.

Rowan Ley
Strathcona High School
Submitted for publication to Edmonton Journal 3

Life on Skid Row is not easy. Folks are broke, business is slow, and there's nothing green in sight. What could possibly make it worse? In Eastglen High School's production of Little Shop of Horrors, the answer turns out to be a giant, foul-mouthed plant with a taste for blood.

Premiering off-off-Broadway in 1982, and then eventually adapted into a cult movie of the same name, Little Shop of Horrors is a wonderful celebration of B-Movie horror and '60s rock 'n' roll. Composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Howard Ashman, the dark-comedy musical centres on a failing flower shop in a failed neighbourhood. Embracing the saying that any publicity is good publicity, Seymour, a nerdy, amateur botanist and employee of Mushnik's Skid Row Florists put a mysterious, monstrously ugly plant in the shop window. Curious customers flow into the shop, but so do troubles as the plant develops an insatiable appetite for human blood and Seymour will stop at nothing to feed it.

The lengths Seymour takes to feed his plant are equalled by the efforts of the cast to entertain their audience. As Mrs. Mushnik, the owner and namesake of her flower shop, Caycee Surgeson shone. Her voice was as consistent as her character. Maintaining an accent while singing parts originally written for a man is no easy task, but Surgeson rarely slipped in her performance. Her nerdy employee and adopted son Seymour was portrayed by Malik Hinton, who endeared himself with his awkward mannerisms and adorable earnestness. Despite his clumsy character, Hinton had surprisingly impressive dance skills and and enjoyable vocals. As Seymour's love interest, the beautiful and absent-minded Audrey, Hailee Elkow inspired optimism and empathy. Her clear, bright voice shone through the dank, dismal reality of life on Skid Row, painting a picture of her hopes for a better life. Throughout the show, Seymour's and Audrey's relationship blossomed, fed by Hinton and Elkow's charming romantic chemistry. While they were more than able to draw laughs, Hinton and Elkow also drew a few tears in the more touching moments of the musical.

Planting the seeds of destruction in the flower shop, Bethany Urban brought the puppet body of the plant, Audrey II, to life. Urban transformed the plant from a lifeless mass of fabric to a living, breathing horror that seemed like it really could eat a man. In perfect sync with the mouth of the beast, Samuel Brown Weasel provided its profane and obnoxious voice. His blood-curdling cry of "feed me" was almost as disturbing as the blood-thirsty plant's meals, sending chills down spines and stems. Urban's movements and Brown Weasel's words were so well co-ordinated it was often easy to forget that the plant on the stage was not truly a sentient being.

The enthusiasm of Eastglen's students created a show that varied from hilarious to touching, watering audience members' eyes as well as planting smiles on their faces. Their energetic, exuberant performance should give pause to anyone thinking about going to a florist.

Rajah Maggay
Archbishop MacDonald High School
Submitted for publication to Edmonton Journal 4

Downtown on Skid Row in an out-of-luck floral shop lay the fate of humanity's very existence. From Eastglen High School, brilliantly blossomed the iconic cult rock musical classic, Little Shop of Horrors.

Cultivated under the green thumbs of writer Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken based on the 1960s film of the same name, the musical version ran Off-Off Broadway on a five-year run before having productions across the United States leading to a subsequent Broadway Production.

Little Shop of Horrors recounts the gleefully gruesome tale of the effects of botanical experimentation of the timid yet tender-hearted orphan Seymour Krelborn as he works at Mrs. Mushnik's flower shop in urban Skid Row. While attempting to confront the ordeals of taking care of a strange and interesting plant with an insatiable appetite for human blood, Seymour must also deal with his boss turned parental figure Mrs. Mushnik and the lingering feelings he holds for his co-worker Audrey, who is enthralled by a sadistic dentist. Influenced by Motown, early 1960s rock 'n' doo-wop, from the dark, comic tone of this hilariously unbelievable tale, emerged hit songs such as Suddenly Seymour and Somewhere That's Green.

Bringing to life the role of Seymour was Malik Hinton whose wonderful physicality, powerful and consistent vocals along with chemistry with cast mates, spearheaded the production. Hinton's skilful performance was fortified through his superb voice and his ability to laudably command the stage with hilarious antics that were an audience delight.

Opposite Hinton was Hailee Elkow as the empathetic Audrey. Elkow embodied Audrey's spirit through the emotional charge placed into Audrey's yearning, in numbers like Somewhere That's Green. Hinton and Elkow tackled the anthem-like song, Suddenly Seymour, while capturing the quirkiness of both characters. As the strong sounds of the orchestra during songs may have provided a challenge for some cast members the discrepancy sound-wise led to stellar projection.

Easily aged decades with a weary slouch and shaded wrinkles, Caycee Surgeson gave an impressive performance as Mrs. Mushnik. Tackling a role originally written for a male, Surgeson displayed her wonderful voice and several instances of humour through the number Mushnik and Son. Befitting the lascivious and derisive nature of the comically malevolent Orin was Samuel Brown Weasel. Brown Weasel provided bursts of black comic relief, not only through the copious amounts of laughing gas but also through side-splitting numbers such as Dentist and Git it. Also playing the part of Audrey II, Brown Weasley added a winning touch of bashfulness while working alongside with Bethany Urban as the plant puppeteer.

When confronting out-of-control vegetation with a particular penchant for human flesh that demands to be fed, Eastglen High School adeptly immersed themselves into an esthetically amusing world of heartfelt hilarity and surrealism. Caution: don't feed the plants.

Michelle Hahn-Baker
Harry Ainlay
Submitted for publication to Edmonton Journal 5

With showers of horror, sunrays of humour, and the nourishment of unparalleled passion, the cast of Eastglen High School's production of Little Shop of Horrors took the seed of a good play and grew it into a phenomenal piece of musical theatre.

Something strange and interesting is growing inside a flower shop on Skid Row. Its' name is Audrey II, a botanical miracle engineered by Seymour, a mild floor sweeper. But soon, when Audrey II's appetite starts to grow, Seymour begins to realize that monsters come in many forms, such as dentists, murderers, and carnivorous man-eating plants.

The horror comedy rock musical Little Shop of Horrors, by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman debuted Off-Off Broadway in 1982. Based on the 1960 low-budget film of the same name, the musical would later go on to become a Broadway production. In 1986, the musical itself was made into a film by Frank Oz, starring Rick Moranis in the role of Seymour.

Nervous and skittish, yet incredibly endearing, Malik Hinton gave Rick Moranis a run for his money as Seymour. Hinton possesses a tremendous voice for musical theatre and skilfully conveyed a wide range of emotion through lively body language. Meanwhile, Hailee Elkow was sweet and strong as Audrey, and proved herself to be one of the show's most capable singers, blending in perfect harmony with the remarkable orchestra. A dynamic chemistry existed between Hinton and Elkow, making it a joy to watch their characters' budding romance blossom into a relationship.

Indeed, the audience fed off the awesome energy that spread throughout the entire cast. Caycee Surgeson impressed as Mrs. Mushnik and delivered her songs with excellence, in spite of them being written in a man's register. The audience shivered and shook (half from fear, half from laughter) to see Samuel Brown Weasel in the role of Orin, as he embodied all his character's swagger and cruelty. Brown Weasel also demonstrated his versatility through his voice work as Audrey II, projecting emotion vocally through a parasitic puppet. His performance was complemented symbiotically by plant puppeteer Bethany Urban, who masterfully manipulated the big, green puppet into a grotesque, ravenous monster.

Beneath the finely-tuned stage lights, the entire cast stepped wholly into their characters, be they a cute little granny or a slovenly drunk. The excellent characterizations were aided by expert makeup work, that aged actors such as Surgeson, as their faces were painted with believable wrinkles and lines. Conscientious costuming also helped to give each character a unique, bold personality; with their denim shirts, blue bandanas and bad attitudes, the Ronnettes ensemble were delightfully devious. They, along with the rest of the cast, executed choreography engagingly, and never left the audience at lack for something to see.

With all the charm and dark humour of a B-movie, Little Shop of Horrors was a joy to behold. Lively, chilling, and simply adorable, it proved to be a big show, with immense energy, huge passion, and monstrous love.