Plymouth-Whitemarsh: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

"Feed me Seymour, feed me!" Audrey II (Trey Stanton) wailed as Seymour (John Matkowski) sat attending to the shop's flowers. "Feed me!" but Seymour refused to feed the plant any longer. For this plant did not drink water, but desired human blood.

It all started with a total eclipse of the sun, during which the plant appeared. Seymour in a desperate attempt to keep the plant alive gave it fertilizers, water, and plant food. But it wasn't until Seymour pricked his finger on a thorn that the plant's Venus flytrap like head opened up, and the terror began. No one quite knew how this plant would affect not only Skid Row, but also the love between Audrey (Ariel Finegold) and Seymour.

The musical Little Shop of Horrors premiered on May 6, 1982 at the WPA Theatre. On July 27, 1982 it opened off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre. Yet it closed on November 1, 1987, after 2,209 performances, it was the third-longest running musical, and the highest-grossing production in off-Broadway history. Later a film version was made directed by Frank Oz.

In 2003, an $8 million revival of Little Shop of Horrors was planned with the goal of opening on Broadway on August 14. On June 2, 2003, producer Marc Routh announced that the production was being canceled because "In spite of the great number of talented people involved, the elements of this production did not come together in the way we would have liked." The musical finally made its debut at the Virginia Theatre on October 2, 2003.

Contrary to Marc Routh's assessment of his cast, Plymouth-Whitemarsh's production was impeccable. The variety among the cast's acting styles and singing methods created a performance that exhibited each actor's talents. They did an excellent job of displaying their singing voices while maintaining the accents of their characters. The level of energy that the cast exerted brought the performance to knew heights.

Seymour Krelborn, played by John Matkowski, was a dorky pseudo-botanist who fell head over heels for Audrey. John's portrayal of Seymour was spot on to the dorky, shy character that we have all come to know. Audrey, played by Ariel Fingold, also displayed extreme devotion to her character. The energy that she put into her character made her stand out from the others. Ariel's fun loving portrayal of Audrey is sure to make you laugh, cry, and have you cheering until the end.

Often the technical aspects of a show will go unnoticed. The audience may notice a change in the lighting, but rarely know the amount of work that goes into lighting the stage. Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School took lighting to a whole new level as they flawlessly hit each of the 180 light cues, and projected images onto billboards.

A plant with the desire for human blood, sounds like a horror movie, but it's quite the opposite. Little Shop of Horrors at Plymouth-Whitemarsh is a "Passionate people eater" performance. Combining the best elements of theater with new technology and old puppeteering tricks, presents the audience with the story of a little shop of horrors on Skid Row.