At the Little Theatre of Horrors

Michael Weaver, Kelly Maier and Brady Miller in "Little Shop." Photos by Keith Stewart for the News-Progress.

I’ve given you sunshine

I’ve given you dirt.

You've given me nothing

But heartache and hurt.

— “Grow for Me” from “Little Shop of Horrors”

By Dan Hagen

“Little Shop of Horrors” makes for a Little Theatre of Fun.

I’ve seen only bits and pieces of Roger Corman’s original low-budget 1960 monster movie, or the 1982 Off-Off-Broadway musical based on that, or the 1986 movie musical based on that, but I’ve seen enough of the Little Theatre’s brisk little show to be well entertained.

Art by JimSamX

It would be difficult to explain this pop cultural artifact to someone who had dropped from the sky like Audrey II the man-eating plant. Here we have the traditional tragedy of a man corrupted by the devil (a vegetable devil, in this case) played out to its inevitable sad conclusion, and yet played as a camp comedy with the sprightly doo-wop music native to the era of the original film.

This tale of doom is balanced by the silliness of the premise. The show can’t end happily, but the overall effect is happy anyway. It’s upbeat doom, doom without gloom.

Directed and choreographed by Chad Alexander, the show’s beginning neatly inverts a musical comedy convention. Instead of the song about the character who loves life in the place he’s in (“Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” “Good Morning Baltimore”), we get a number about what an excremental place Skid Row is (“Downtown”).

At 1313 Skid Row is a wilted flower shop owned by Mr. Mushnik (Michael Weaver), who employs an earnest nebbish assistant/slave named Seymour (Brady Miller) and a pretty girl of low self-esteem named Audrey (Equity actress Kelly Maier). Audrey is the wilted flower Seymour treasures, a woman battered by her sadistic biker-dentist boyfriend (Mike Danovich). The uncanny plant Seymour names for her, Audrey II, will promise them salvation, and provide them with destruction.

Marika Stephens’ cunning set features lighted second-story windows and projections playing on a curtain. The songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman are perfectly serviceable, if not memorable, and they help set a pace that never flags.

What’s fun? Things like these:

• A tango between Weaver and Miller where the point is not romance but a profitable adoption (“Mushnik & Son”).

• Danovich’s crowd-pleasing paen to pain, “Dentist.” I think the time has come, though, for the American musical theatre to put the Elvis Presley riffs on ice for a century or so. They’ve been overused for a long time now.

• Maier and Miller, a well-matched and winsome pair. Maier has the beleaguered urban charm of a Judy Holliday or Adelaide in “Guys & Dolls.” Miller pitches Seymour perfectly, innocent without being insipid, cute without being cloying. Together, the two are impossible not to like in numbers such as “Suddenly Seymour.”

Brady Miller with little Audrey II

• Audrey II himself, a plant that grows throughout the show, moving thanks to Andy Frank and singing thanks to Gilbert Donnelly (who was Jim in “Big River”). Sort of a cheeky Venus flytrap with lips, Audrey II is one of those fantasy elements that endear themselves to an audience, like the ghosts in “Blithe Spirit” or the invisible rabbit in “Harvey.”

The verdict: A fine cast in a fast, fun and fairly kid-friendly show.

Incidental intelligence: “Little Shop of Horrors,” a musical by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, is based on the 1960 black comedy film directed by Roger Corman.  The show runs through July 13 at the Little Theatre.

This production has lighting design by Mark Hueske, costume design by Malia Andrus, sound design by Patrick Burks, stage management by Jeremy J. Phillips and musical direction by Kevin Long.

The cast also includes Emily Rheim, Haley Jane Schafer, Hanah Rose Nardone, Josh Houghton, Megan E. Farley, Niko Pagsisihan and Sidney Davis.

For tickets, call The Little Theatre On The Square Box Office at 217-728-7375.