A Bloody Delightful Musical Comedy
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THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO - August 3, 2019 (LSN) Something strange and interesting has started to grow this week at the Paramount Theatre in the downtown Waterfront District. From the people who brought you this winter’s hit musical Mamma Mia, comes another Broadway monster hit - Little Shop of Horrors! Little Shop opened it’s doors on Tuesday July 30th to a hungry audience who were dying to get a glimpse of Audrey II, the giant man eating plant featured in this musical tale. This musical comedy tells the story of Seymour (played by Robert Perrier), a poor schmuck who lives on Skid Row and is employed at a flower shop owned by Mr. Mushnik (Kirk Maurer) along with Audrey (Tegin Menei), the young lady Seymour loves. Seymour lives a less than happy life on Skid Row, until one fateful day when, after a total eclipse of the sun, he finds a strange, Venus flytrap like plant that he lovingly names the Audrey II. Little Shop may seem like a goofy, kind of gory musical about a man-eating plant, but it tells the story of a young man so determined to live a better life, he doesn’t realize the things he’ll have to do, and sacrifice, to get there.
The actors who have taken to the stage to bring this out-of-the-world story to life are bursting at the seams with energy and spunk. No plant food required for them or the chorus of Doo-Wop girls (Candi Badanai, Olivia McInnis, Jessica Hayes, Katie Kawahara, Katherine Nemec, and Kaitlyn Rut) who lead this wonderful ensemble piece of theatre. Special credit has to be given to Spencer Hari, the voice of Audrey II, who brings the killer plant’s voice to life; and his amazing voice gives Audrey II as much on-stage presence as any of the physical actors in the cast thanks to the animation Micheal Bogensberger brings to the puppets. And of course, there is a Dentist, a marvelously creepy one as portrayed by Chris Jason who will leave you re-booking your next dental appointment for a much later date.
Little Shop of Horrors features music is by Alan Menken with a book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, who are also known for many other musicals such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. This summer theatre production is crafted by Badanai Theatre is staged by the same production team who worked on Mamma Mia this past winter at the Paramount. Little Shop of Horrors plays at the Paramount Theatre every Tuesday to Thursday until August 15, 2019, with a nightly curtain time of 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 and are available in advance by calling Maple Tops at (807) 344-4080 or at the door of the theatre before show time. For more information, check Badanai Theatre out at facebook.com/badanaitheatre/
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