1000 Tiny Birds

Little Shop Of Horrors

Westside Theatre Upstairs, 2023-04-14

Having ticked Broadway off my bucket list, I thought I might as well double down and go for an off Broadway show too. Little Shop Of Horrors is exactly my kind of vibe in musicals - I don’t do the big serious melodrama, give me something fun and irreverent. Having only seen one school production of it (shout out to the St Columba’s Class of 2012 or so), I figured I should see it proper. Maude Apatow, who is apparently in Euphoria, stars as Audrey, and Matt Doyle plays Seymour in a way which hews very closely to Rick Moranis in the film adaptation. The whole ensemble is strong and charismatic, especially the chorus. I’d forgotten a lot of things, mainly that it really goes hard on the BDSM stuff, and it’s such a hilariously bleak and abrupt ending. The puppetry is obviously to some extent the star of the show, and I know it’s a cheap thrill but Audrey II in largest form jumping out over the audience is so wonderfully effective that you can’t blame them. It’s all in all a fun staging of a play that feels hard to get wrong, with a cast that’s clearly enjoying themselves. The off Broadway dream.