St Nicolas Players
Reviews of 'Disposing of the Body'
Reviews of 'Little Shopof Horrors'
Review by Alex Wood, NODA
Chillingly dark but also very funny with great characters and songs, Little Shop of Horrors is a fine show. It’s short and moves along quickly – and in this case brevity is certainly the soul of wit.
That said, director Rob Nicholls and his team made the show very much their own, using the 1960 film and comic books for inspiration for the set and costumes. The result was an excellent night out.
Very much an ensemble piece there were some stand-out performances. Rob Callaby, as the unassuming shop assistant and dogsbody who discovers the ‘strange and interesting plant’ which leads to the improvement in his fortunes but also his ultimate downfall, was just right, as was Rebecca Jones, performing the role of Audrey with great skill and a very impressive singing voice. Nick Hallissey as sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello, DDS, was way, way over the top – and very, very funny. The Ronnettes, very ably led by Amber Sinclair, made a huge impression with fine singing and dancing. Nick Fletcher gave Audrey II a soulful presence and Paul Coleman made a suitably harassed Mushnik.
The ensemble did an excellent job with some nice cameos and chorus work – movement was great with everyone on stage kept busy.
The set was cleverly designed – though I’d have liked more flowers! I thought the idea of starting the story with a theme (including costume) of grey/black and white, turning to colour with Audrey II’s arrival, with black dominating at the end was an extraordinarily inspirational idea, which would not be out of place in a professional show. Projection above the set itself was used throughout to reinforce this comic book feel.
Costumes – especially the colour-themed ‘60’s dresses of the Ronettes – were excellent.
All supported by an excellent band, led by Karl Gernert – though not their fault and possibly not something that can’t be resolved in this small theatre with no orchestra pit – I felt that at times the balance between them and the singers could have been better.
But, overall, a top class show which is a huge credit to the cast and production team
Review by Martin Tyrrell
“Little Shop Of Horrors” is not an easy show to do well, but this week at the South Holland Centre, St Nicolas Players showed us all the way.
Director Rob Nicholls’ inspired set design paid homage to the original 1960 film, and also to the comic books of the era, before exploding into colour with the arrival of Audrey II. The plant was, of course, the star of the show, growing quickly as it fed on human blood, but this was complemented by Nick Fletcher’s excellent performance as the Voice of the Plant. Unmasking hidden vocal talents, he commanded the stage with his booming voice.
The narrators of the show, the Ronnettes, were led by the excellent vocal talent of Amber Sinclair, and Paul Coleman was a suitably harassed Mushnik. Special mention has to be given to the spectacularly over the top performance of Nick Hallissey as Orin Scrivello, the sadistic gas-obsessed dentist (played by Paul Gilbert in other performances), who becomes the plant’s first victim.
The two heroes of the piece, Seymour and Audrey, marked a welcome return to the society by Rob Callaby and Rebecca Jones (who looked and sounded stunning as Audrey – a tour de force performance).
Karl Gernert’s ensemble did a sterling job in the pit, but did sometimes drown out the vocals, particularly from the percussion section.
Anyone expecting the happy ending of the 1986 musical was going to be disappointed; this ending is dark…. Overall, this production reeked of quality, proving that St Nicolas Players are continuing their reign as one of the foremost amateur dramatic groups in the area.