"Little Shop Of Horrors" by Williams Creatives.

Sue Townsend Theatre, Leicester.

Almost everyone will know the story of the mild mannered, meek shop assistant, Seymour, who buys a strange tropical plant and places it in his boss's flower shop window to attract custom in order to save the shop from closing down by its' owner Mr Mushnik. This would put him and his other, more glamorous assistant, Audrey, out of a job. The plant needs a special diet in order for it to flourish, and when it does, it makes Seymour a local and nationwide celebrity. And we all know the cost of that! If you weren't aware of the storyline, where have you been living? Inside a plant!!!

Seymour is played by Harry Mason, who makes his theatrical debut in this role. Harry really brings that geekiness wonderfully to the show, and also brings a really good singing voice with the character. He also looks like he's only just old enough to be eligible for a paper round. Thank goodness his photo in the programme shows that he is old enough to grow facial hair. Seriously though, this is an excellent stage debut and I know that he will be playing stage characters younger than his actual age, Lovely characterisation and a team player as I noticed the support that he gave another actor who momentarily forgot his lines.

Mr Mushnik is played by Matt Brown, who brings the broadest of Jewish accents to his role. You could feel the tension and frustration that Mushnik felt at the start of the musical when he really thought that he was going to have to close the shop due to having no customers all day. Love the duet that Mushnik and Seymour have in "Mushnik and Son" which shows the chemistry and choreography between the pair.

Audrey is played by Emily Haywood. I have seen some Audreys that have provided a voice that sounds like it's on helium, but Emily provides a lower vocal timbre while still retaining that twang and naivety. What a lovely singing voice though as demonstrated in two of my favourite songs from the score "Suddenly Seymour", which sees a perfect blending of voices with Harry, and "Somewhere That's Green".

Orin Scrivillo, the dentist with a sadistic streak is played by Bill Mallon. I love this character, mainly because of the absurdity of the character, and I also don't really like dentists either. There is no top that the character can go over, especially with the maniacal laughter while high on "The Gas". Stupendously sadistic and deliciously devilish all at the same time. His songs "The Dentist" and "The Gas" were both performed with relish from Bill.

Audrey II is voiced by Joshua Taylor-Williams, who is also the Production manager for "Little Shop". Joshua's voice is unmistakeable and perfect for the soul-filled voice of Audrey II. When you physically don't appear on stage, all the character has to come out from the voice, which it does with such sassiness.

Callum Taylor-Williams and Cathy Robinson operated Audrey II. I loved the fact that Audrey II's upper lip curled into a sneer, showing just what he thought of Seymour's decisions, especially near the end.

Sienna Barnes plays Crystal, Tash Bailey is Ronette and Vikki Taylor is Chiffon, the three sixties style chanteurs. A lovely sound that supplies much of the soul in the soundtrack for the show, and boy do they look good as well!

The ensemble are made up of Zuha Abbas, Kira Yates, Ruben Bruen, Willow Haynes, Sarah Brown, Isla Singleton, Abbie Stocker, Jade Hassall and Alex Tomlinson, some of whom double up on roles, fleshing out the amount of characters in the story. Not sure which of the ladies played the Dentist's patient just before Seymour came in, but that was one hell of a blood curdling scream!

Directed by Victoria Porter, who makes her Williams Creatives Directorial debut with this one. The show has been trimmed down with the running time being just less than an hour each act, making this show even pacier than any you may have seen before, but with just as much fun.

Emm Pearson is the show's Musical Director. I noticed a couple of slight arrangements with the music, especially in "Suddenly Seymour", and when you've heard the soundtrack as many times as I have, it's nice to hear slight differences and arrangements in the score; it really makes you prick up your ears, as Leicestershire's Joe Orton would have said.

Jacob Bale's Choreography was fun to watch and, as with the arrangements of some of the score, was sprinkled with some fresh ideas, many of them enhancing that 1960's feel of the story. Isla Singleton was the Dance Captain.

Set Design was provided by Scene Tec, which of course included Audrey II who looked amazing as it grew from a small seedling in a pot to the giant man-eating plant we see in the second act. 

Costumes by Andrea Bruen and Alison Kelb were instantly recognisable for the characters. From the bland tank top and brown trousers for Seymour through the trashy class for Audrey all the way through to a chain smoking nun and Orin Scrivello's leather ware and Dentist smock. Some pretty impressive wigs on show as well!

Sound is by Tom Brooks. I, and this is only on a personal level, would have liked the backing musical tracks with just a tad more volume, but apart from that, there are no complaints from me regarding the quality and clarity of the tracks or the volume set on the actor's mics.

Lighting Operator was James Ansell, and a vibrant and colourful design we were treated to. I would have liked a little less stage haze as that seemed to clog the lighting just a bit, making the stage feel as if a mist was swirling.

Stage Managed by Sharon Brown with the Backstage Hands being Ellie Barratt and Maya Voce. 

There were a couple of scene changes that took a little longer than maybe should have in the blackouts, but I am sure that these can be tightened up over the next couple of days. 

Another fun show from Williams Creatives, performed by a cast who were having a ball on stage, getting you in the mood for Halloween.

"Little Shop Of Horrors" is at Sue Townsend Theatre in Leicester until Saturday 25 October, and don't forget....don't feed the plants!

Photography by Poyner & Mee.