"Little Shop Of Horrors" by Copper Studios.
Another one of my favourite pieces of theatre with an unforgettable soundtrack, all brought to life by some wonderfully talented and budding actors. I've seen quite a few productions of this brilliant musical, but I think this has to be one of the best productions I've seen, for several reasons that will become apparent as you read on....
Seymour hides his affections for Audrey under a bushel, after all she is dating a semi sadist of a dentist called Orin, whose idea of fun is beating up on Audrey, inflicting pain and inhaling gas!
Anyway Audrey 2 attracts customers to Mushnik's flower shop and takings are on the up. But Audrey 2 has a strange diet and in order to maintain his, and the flower shop's popularity, Seymour has to provide his plant with its dietary requirements!
Seymour's role is shared throughout the run by Jude Forsey and Harry Steel. I saw Jude play the role. Now, I've seen Jude before so I knew what a cracker of an actor he is and again he poured everything he had into playing nerdy Seymour. I loved the scene where he was trying to impress Audrey with the new leather jacket he had brought and I also loved his extended kiss with Audrey and especially the reaction that the audience gave the pair of them. The length of the kiss I'd not seen carried on this long in any other production, and that in itself caused a wonderful, metaphoric air punching for Seymour's triumph. Jude has always had very strong vocals and I noticed the strength he has now has gone up notches.
Mr Mushnik was played by another young actor I've had the pleasure to have seen before, Evan Fretwell. I noticed the amount of work that Evan has invested in this role; the whole technical, as well as physical investment has reaped massive rewards in playing the whole physicality if Mushnik. Every move was as if I was watching an animator putting together the movements, everything was so precise. From the raising of an eyebrow to the widening of the eyes, especially when he caught Seymour and Audrey in that kiss. The dance moves were sharp and had meaning and Evan is also another blessed with a voice for musical theatre. Like Jude the natural vocals just spilled out of his mouth. Loved the "Mushnik & Son" section, and he cracked the Jewish part of the dance and the song. 
Audrey is played by Jasmine Hutchins and Lily Penzer in the run. I saw Jasmine. In some performances in the past there was a tendency to make Audrey's voice very high and whiny. Not here, it was pitched just right, which gave a credibility to the performance and also made Audrey more intelligent than some productions I've seen over the many years. Jasmine has a lovely voice and when duetting on "Suddenly Seymour" there was a lovely mix of the two voices.
Orin, the dentist, has always been my favourite character in this musical. Every time I see an actor play this role, I state that they are my favourite, because the role is just iconic. Louis Chadburn just topped my poll again. I've seen Louis before and know just how talented he is; he raised that talent bar yet again. A cross between Elvis in his '68 leather period and Jack Nicholson in "The Shining", he injected a new comedy and arrogance to the role. He filled every second that he was onstage with character. A brilliant physicality he extracted from the script and gave Orin a sexy image with his breathy dental orders of "open wide", "wider" and "spit". This in itself is almost panto, working on separate levels for the younger and older audience members. 
Audrey 2 was voiced by Will Horner, another young actor that I've seen grow up through the productions I've seen by Copper Studios. Not being seen on stage and acting is never as easy as it sounds because you have to get every emotion over with your voice, and Will did that perfectly.
The rest of the ensemble cast, who played several various roles throughout were Amber Colson, Lily-Mae Evans, Eden Bell, Kyra Fowler, Lottie Parsons, Isobelle Walker, Amy Shelmerdine, Carrie Byrne, Isabella Streets and Tillie Parsons.
There were some quick costume changes as well for the actor who played all three roles, two female and one male character, chasing for Seymour's signature for the contracts
Directed by Harry Hindley, who was also Musical Director. I've already mentioned that I've seen "Horrors" many times in the past but because of the little additions to this production and the talent level of all the actors, this was just like seeing the show for the first time. It was perfectly paced and with additions like the dentist room section when Orin's character was introduced and sung "Dentist" it was almost like watching a flashback in a film. I also loved the scene where Orin and Seymour were together. I can't ever remember just how much caressing of the dental instruments and the attention that Orin paid to Seymour previously, accentuating Orin's manic behaviour. 
I also loved the size of Audrey 2 at the end; the size extracted gasps from the packed theatre. I definitely had not seen one as big as that before! This made the devouring by the plant a lot easier and gave a more realistic probability of what Audrey 2 could do. Another excellent directorial choice.
Choreography is by Megan Hindley. I love the dance routines; from the mass synchronised sections to the solo and dance duets, including a lovely section behind Audrey when she sang "Somewhere That's Green". Loved the comic effect provided in the "Mushnik & Son" routine between Jude and Evan. The opening number was so tight, Jordan Banjo would have been proud of its' synchronicity.
Set Design was by Prosceneium Ltd. This was a proper set with walls filling the stage at the Bonington and that made you feel as if you were viewing a florist shop. There was no need to extend to depict Skid Row itself and, as with most other productions from the past, the exterior sections of the shop were shown by dustbins, rubbish and empty bottles, and that's all we needed.
Sound Design is by Mark Di Martino. there were some missed mic cues and the start of some character scripts were clipped but, it's first night. I'm sure that this will be mastered going forward.
Lighting Design is by College Street Technical Services.
The costumes exactly as you'd expect them to be, Seymour's was geek chic, Orin's was leathers and a dentist smock and Mushnik's an older character's smart suit and waistcoat. The Urchins gave the air of the 1960's. All perfectly apt for the feel of the musical. Plus the hair and make up were absolutely spot on.
The soundtrack includes "Skid Row", "Suddenly Seymour", "Somewhere That's Green", "Dentist", "It's The Gas", "Feed Me" "Don't Feed The Plants","Mushnik and Son" and the insanely catchy title song.
This fun musical has been around for decades and never fails to entertain, and this production shows no sign of the show going to seed, especially when performed by a cast as excellent as this one. A worthy standing ovation from everyone in the theatre, as far as I could see proves the level of talent on stage with Copper Studios.
"Little Shop Of Horrors" is at Bonington Theatre in Arnold until Saturday 12 November.
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