MUSICAL REVIEW: Little Shop of Horrors ★★★★

Little Short of Horrors
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
Thursday 6th September 2018

I am a big admiral of Little Shop, having seen the musical on the fringe scene in Edinburgh 2015, and the UK tour which followed in 2016, so there would have to of been a huge selling point towards this new adaption that would have made me spark a thought to venture and see what the hype was about, and two words stood out; Vicky Vox.

As an American Drag Queen, Vicky Vox is taking on the titular role as the venomous plant Audrey II, historically known to have been portrayed by an animatronic plant, to which in certain aspects of this production is true, but what Vicky Vox ultimately gives to this rendition is sexiness and sass to the role, having the audience roaring with laughter and cheer throughout, and ultimately the star of this already studded and talented ensemble of artists on stage.

Marc Antolin brings an innocence and heart to the performance of Seymour which I've not yet seen from a portrayal of the character before, and in what is a 1,200 capacity seated open air theatre, Tom Scutt's ever-growing design mixed with Maria Aberg's direction brings you almost forefront to the action no matter where you're sat in the auditorium, for myself being situated in the centre back of the racked seating.

The production as a whole though truly must be commended on the ensemble casting, made ever so by Renée Lamb, Christina Modestou, and Seyi Omooba portraying Chiffon, Ronnette, and Chrystal, as well as McBusted's Matt Willis taking on the role of Audrey's (Rosalind James) horrible and vile boyfriend Orin the Dentist.