"Little Shop Of Horrors" by BJW Productions

St Mary's Church, Nottingham.

This production is a one-off performance but it could easily have run successfully for a week, it was that good.

BJW Productions are a fairly new theatre group but they have not slacked on getting productions out there in the short time that they have been in operation. They have also not slacked on the quality and talented performers they have used for their shows.

If you don't know the story, seen the stage musical, the film version or any other production of "Little Shop Of Horrors", you must have been hiding under a stone for the last fifty years or so.

The story follows a nerdy florist shop worker, Seymour Krelborn, who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. Up until then the shop was on the skids, well it is located on Skid Row, and on the verge of closing down, but this new, exciting and rare plant was going to save the day as it attracted new customers to the shop. Rapidly the new plant, Audrey 2, transforms Seymour from zero to hero, but what a cost to Seymour, the flower shop owner, Mr Mushnik and his other shop worker, and Seymour's secret crush, Audrey.

What I was not expecting with this production was the new twist that was given! More of that coming later.

Set in the wonderful surroundings of St Mary's Church in The Lace Market in Nottingham, the acoustics are perfect. Having seen a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" a few years' ago in this very church, I knew this would be an excellent choice for this musical.

Owen Jones (Seymour) is a perfect piece of casting, not only for the physicality of the character, but for Owen's ability to transfer from the nerdy character who jumped at Mushnik's raised voice, to gaining the strength to take control of his life, all by way of the love for and from Audrey. I also got to experience Owen's singing ability up close and his range, from a tender whisper to a full on belting was mighty impressive. His duet with Emily in "Suddenly Seymour" really made the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.

Emily Bridge (Audrey) really delivered a character filled performance. She acted with every part of her being; from her frightened persona being bullied by Orin to the adoring and sweet puppy-eyed devotee of Seymour. Again a cracker of a voice that send the shivers through your body. Emily has the whole package nailed with Audrey.

Eoin Callaghan (Mr. Mushnik) had the Jewish side of Mushnik's character nailed as his eavesdropping on Seymour's possibility of leaving the shop with the plant prompted him to propose adoption of Seymour. This in turn also showcased the control and power in his vocals in "Mushnik & Son". Having seen Eoin previously, I already knew that he has a great voice for musical theatre, but hearing his vocals so close cements the fact.

Tom Noyes (Orin) is yet another excellent casting choice as the manic, sado masochistic dentist, a role and character many miles away from who I imagine Tom is away from the stage. I can imagine Tom had great fun playing this part, because the audience sure had fun watching Orin, especially when he got his comeuppance!

Emily Knight (Chiffon), Jessica Bridge (Ronette) and Daisy Hinde (Crystal) provided the close-knit harmonies for the Sixties style, trio straight out of a Phil Spector production studio. These three provided the first set of tingles for the evening with their well-blended vocals with just a few well-placed vocal acrobatics. All three also added to the ensemble.

Jamal Franklin (Audrey 2) is an actor who I have not seen before but what an eye opener this man is. Now this is where the surprise came for me as there is no Audrey 2 plant as such. What we see is Jamal adorned as a toddler would be, complete with dummy, depicting the smaller Audrey 2. Slowly Jamal increased in stature to replicate the growth of the plant. In doing so, he also managed to grow the menace as well as the comedy element of the talking plant. We saw the plant expand until Jamal appears at the end in a green suit to show the plant had reached adult hood. Jamal has one of those voices that sounds like the equivalent of melting chocolate. basically this man is Mr Smooth in the vocal department!

What was also very cleverly done was the digestion of Audrey 2's victims. We see them enter Audrey 2's portal and then, in a way that reminded me a bit of some of the scenes from the movie "Ghost" when the victims were grabbed by the underground demons, lifted aloft and carried away. Very ghoulish and very effective.

Hattie Kemish and Billy Sweet provided the additional ensemble along with playing several of the characters on the outer edge of the story.

Directed by Jessica Bridge, who obviously has an eye for doing things slightly different and her risks have paid dividends as I loved seeing a new take on a story that I have seen several times.

One thing I did note was the speed of the costume changes with the ensemble pieces. Boy, were they swiftly carried out! I must also note that the costumes were brilliant. From the classy 1960's styles for Chiffon, Ronette and Crystal to Orin's dentist outfit and the costumes for Jamal's Audrey 2. Oh and then there are the different costumes for Audrey herself. Brilliantly created for maximum impact.

Ben Ward was the Musical Director, heading the nine-piece band consisting of Dave Adey on keyboards, along with Ben, Reuben Savage on guitar, Barney McNamara on bass, Ryan Thrupp on drums, Tim Rabbitt and Steve Bennett on trumpets and Dawn Bratby and Diane Grebby on reeds.

The soundtrack includes some truly memorable songs, such as "Suddenly Seymour", "Somewhere That's Green", "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Feed Me" and the wonderfully catchy and comic "Dentist".

The choreography for this production was by Hattie Kemish, and looks like she has really worked some kind of magic here. I can't remember this level of choreography for this production. Also what really made me sit up and take note was the snappiness of the dance, every beat was matched with a specific movement. The fluidity of the dance to the music was pure magic. The combination of Hattie's choreography and the actor's obvious abilities to carry out the choreography so well made this a musical delight where the dancing was concerned.

Sound Design was by Harry Greatorex, and again it is obvious that a lot of work has gone into this area of the production. Not only is the performance area excellent acoustically, and the natural echo worked well in this sixties style musical. I heard every word from the actors and the mix between the band and the singers was practically perfect.

Light Design was by Jamie Vella and you still received the same full affect in this reduced staging as you would in a theatre where there would be so many more lighting rigs. The lighting was bright with the brilliant red and green hues within Mushnik's shop to show the greenery as well as the danger of Audrey 2. Aside of that, when there were the big ensemble numbers, they too were matched with big bright white lighting, making this production seem bigger than it was physically.

This was a one night only performance, but what a night it turned out to be. possibly the best production I've seen of this musical.