black comedy

REVIEW: Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ blooms a darker green

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

This sad little flower shop on Skid Rowe holds a secret.

From John Stone’s playfully ticking sound design to Erik D. Diaz’s fascinating ‘blooming’ set,’ Greater Boston Stage Company makes two things abundantly clear:  Don’t feed the plants and everyone’s life should be narrated by a streetwise Greek chorus.

Directed with comic edge by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz and Chris Shin’s zany chorography, Greater Boston Stage Company continues horror comedy rock sci-fi musical, Little Shop of Horrors live and in person at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 29.  This production runs approximately two hours with one intermission.  Click here for more information and tickets.

Kayla Shimizu, Stephen Markarian and Bryan Miner in Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Celebrating its 65th anniversary this year, Little Shop of Horrors embarked on quite a journey to become the cult classic it is today.  Originally based on Jack Cullier’s 1932 story Green Thoughts, Little Shop of Horrors was originally a 1960 B movie featuring a then lesser known Jack Nicholson before it was developed into a 1982 stage musical and then a 1986 musical film adaptation featuring Rick Moranis, Bill Murray and John Candy.  The musical also introduced sadistic dentist Orin, portrayed by Steve Martin in the film.

It’s a seemingly simple tale about young love on Skid Rowe in a fledgling flower shop that houses a curious and unique breed of plant.  Some critics have compared it to the daring tone of the cult classic, ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ but Little Shop of Horrors is usually delivered with a more subtle brand of campy charm.

This wild tale is headlined by the sweet and sassy sounds of female Greek chorus trio Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronnette who pop up in the most unexpected places during the production. With few exceptions, the music, with lyrics by award-winning composer Alan Menken, have a catchy, rock n’ roll vibe including tunes that pay tribute to 60s girl groups. 

Becky Bass, Corlandt Barrett and Pearl Scott in Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

From casual street garments to flashy glam by Chelsea Kerl, these three dazzling vocalists certainly know how to make an entrance.  Cortlandt Barrett as Chiffon, Becky Bass as Crystal and Pearl Scott as Ronnette are a tough, humorous, and street-smart trio who unveil the real ins and outs of Skid Rowe through harmony, kicking it off with the catchy signature track, Little Shop of Horrors and especially showing off their mellifluous vocals for Skid Rowe (Downtown).

The set of Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

With haunting and ominous illumination by Corey Whittemore, Erik D. Diaz combines creepy and dilapidated featuring vintage brick storefronts, beaten up garbage cans, a weathered Mushnik Florist sign, and an eerie projection screen splashed with blood at center stage.  What Diaz does with the set is vivid, remarkable and transformative right down to its carefully timed shop bell.  Set in the 1960s, Little Shop of Horrors is packed with 50s and 60s references such as I Love Lucy, Howdy Doody, Donna Reed, and Betty Crocker.

The cast of Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

The show has a gift for funny and ironic contrasts with a cast that has increasingly complicated motives.  Wearing black-rimmed glasses, a baseball cap and a sweater vest, William David Kay stepped in for Stephen Markarian offering an earnest portrayal as Seymour, a sympathetic yet conflicted botanist.  Anxious and occasionally clumsy, Kay emphasizes Seymour’s inherent, inescapable loneliness as he struggles to remain forthright and honest as the show progresses.  He shines in the darkly tender number Grow for Me and in his awkward adoration for trusting, insecure and frequently unlucky Audrey, portrayed sweetly with a light accent and plucky charm by Kayla Shimizu.  In a particularly comical moment, Seymour warmly hopes to take Audrey to “a fancy dinner at Howard Johnson’s.”

Photo of Kayla Shimizu, Stephen Markarian* and Bryan Miner* by Nile Scott Studios.

Shimizu’s lovely soprano vocals carry a lullaby or a soulful belt beautifully.  She shares her simple, 50s domestic dreams in a funny and tender rendition of Somewhere That’s Green and with Seymour in a powerful rendition of Suddenly Seymour.

Stephen Markarian* Audrey II and Kayla Shimizu Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Disheveled and desperate in colorful and busily patterned suits, Bryan Miner is wonderful as worn and frustrated flower shop owner, Mr. Mushnik.  Tightly wound and barely holding onto hope, Miner’s Mushnik is especially clever with William David Kay as Seymour for the manipulative and comical calypso-infused number, Mushnik and Son.  Mushnik may be too smart for his own good.

Audrey II, Stephen Markarian* and Bryan Miner* in Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

I’ve seen a few versions of Little Shop of Horrors and this is the edgiest production I have seen.  Jared Troilo works overtime to portray a number of satirical characters that are impressively goofy and fun.  Troilo is next level sinister in a no-holds-barred performance as Orin, a belligerent, gyrating, narcissistic biker dentist punctuated by a berating sneer and a glottal “dull” utterance.  It occasionally crosses the line from darkly funny to disquieting and overdone.

Becky Bass, Pearl Scott, Cortlandt Barrett and Jared Troilo in Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

However, the real spectacle is  Audrey II, the sly and soulful plant that changes everything.  Anthony Pires, Jr. boasts versatile and grimly wise vocals as well as a gift for pleading exemplified in the rock number, Feed Me.  Inventively manipulated by Sydney Grant, Audrey II is a comical and extraordinary specimen right down to bright colors and shiny, dangling teeth.  Audrey II is handled in such an innovative, natural, and humorous way, the results are truly captivating.

Audrey II, Kayla Shimizu and Stephen Markarian in Greater Boston Stage Company’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Greater Boston Stage Company’s Little Shop of Horrors continues live and in person through Sunday, June 29 at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts.  Click here for more information, tickets, and for details about the Little Shop of Horrors raffle.

REVIEW: Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ create a spark

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Who really is the stranger at your door?

Directed ominously by Bob Scanlan, suspicion takes a front seat as Praxis Stage presents Max Frisch’s British absurdist satire, The Arsonists at Chelsea Theatre Works in Chelsea, Massachusetts through Sunday, September 15.  This semi-interactive production is approximately two hours with one intermission. Click here for more information and for tickets.

‘The naked truth told enough, nobody believes it’ is a variation of Nazi Joseph Goebbels’s Big Lie propaganda technique, ‘Repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.’  The Arsonists build on that here as being blind to the obvious. 

First published by Max Frisch in 1953, The Arsonists has since evolved from a radio play to television and a stage production under other names such as The Fire Raisers or The Firebugs.  It delves into many issues including hypocrisy, fascism and propaganda.

Michael Anderson as Pre-show MC and other roles in Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ Photo by Praxis Stage

In an unnamed town, place, and setting, The Arsonists is unorthodox right from the start and focuses on Kim H. Carrell as Gottlieb Biedermann who is contrary in many ways.  Relishing in his upper middle class affluence in an expensive ascot in lieu of a tie while smoking cigars, Biedermann just finishes reading about arsonists setting fires in people’s homes in his neighborhood when a towering stranger with bleached blond locks arrives at his door.  Anxious, preoccupied and frustrated Biedermann reluctantly lets him in.

Daniel Boudreau and Kim Carrell in Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ Photo by Praxis Stage

 The stranger is Daniel Boudreau as charismatically chatty and homeless former circus wrestler Joe Schmitz.  Boudreau and Carrell share a gnawing awkwardness as Boudreau’s Schmitz voraciously eats and insists he is looking for a little humanity.  Boudreau delivers another impressive performance as Schmitz not entirely unlike his persuasive character Goldberg in The Birthday Party and he shares a darkly fascinating rapport with Zair Silva as mysterious thrill seeker Will Eisenring. 

Zair Silva and Daniel Boudreau in Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ Photo by Praxis Stage

The Arsonists reveal some of life’s minor truisms such as when people dismiss behavior over the weather to mask negative emotion and more serious ones such as overlooking any event if it was not reported in the news.  Carrell as Biedermann is fixated on appearances and insists that we are all human beings regardless of status yet disassociates himself with people and is extremely ruthless in other areas of his life.  Along with Julia Trueblood as Biedermann’s equally anxious wife Babette, they wish to appear accommodating even if that is not necessarily the case.

Annunciating Mr. Biedermann’s name for emphasis, Stephanie Charlton is humorous as practical and edgy maid Anna, reflecting much of the exasperation the audience feels at Beidermann’s increasingly bizarre behavior exemplified by an amusing moment amongst an otherwise somber scene between Biedermann and Anna arguing over table settings. 

Julia Trueblood and Stephanie Charlton in Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ Photo by Praxis Stage

There is musical accompaniment to The Arsonists by vocalist Miss Mary Mac, Music Director David Krimsky and Malachi Connolly on guitar with percussionist Benedict Dawn-Cross highlighted by a grim cover of R.E.M’s It’s the End of the World as We Know it as part of this cabaret-style show.  Mackenzie Adamick’s sound design is often immersive and lends to some of the show’s tension as a timer sporadically ticks in the background. The most impressive part of Kevin Fulton’s lighting is inside a hidden door that is realistic, convincing and won’t be revealed here. 

Miss Mary Mac on vocals and the band Photo by Praxis Stage

Like Praxis Stage’s previous absurdist work for The Birthday Party, The Arsonists may render you speechless, a bit disoriented and frustrated, yet you may also find yourself invested in this production’s motivations and outcome especially in shifty Boudreau as Schmitz and Zair Silva as Eisenring.  Both absurdist works examine the human condition and deliver its share of truisms from an absurdist perspective but unfortunately, The Arsonists leaves little to interpretation as both productions culminate in a dining room table showdown in which the tables turn.

The Greek chorus of firemen, composed of five actors including Alison Butts, Abby Duell, Jean Dany Joachim, Gabriel Pagan and Jessica Newman, appear to pose as a neighborhood watch.  The idea is intriguing, but their welcome wears thin at first chorusing at times what the audience might be thinking before coming off as condescending, repetitive, and unnecessary with the exception of a brief haunting song sung by Jean Dany Joachim right after intermission.

Chorus: Left to Right Abby Duell Jean Dany Joachim Gabriel Pagan Alison Butts and Jessica Newman in Praxis Stage’s ‘The Arsonists’ Photo by Praxis Stage

At one point, the show encourages you to think for yourself and yet, the show is not without its subtle biases and political leanings.  It may have been more thought provoking if left ambiguous as the play is already witty and relevant on its own.

Directed ominously by Bob Scanlan, Praxis Stage presents Max Frisch’s The Arsonists continuing at Chelsea Theatre Works in Chelsea, Massachusetts through Sunday, September 15.  This semi-interactive production is approximately two hours with one intermission. Click here for more information and for tickets.