Little Shop of Horrors delightfully entertains

The cast and crew of Torn Ticket II's Little Shop of Horrors left no stone unturned as they pulled out all the stops to produce a thoughtful and thorough version of the dark 1960s musical comedy. The small but strong cast charismatically carried the show with help from a talented and well-timed pit, artistically thoughtful costumes, and of course, a humongous and voracious alien plant.

Little Shop of Horrors tells the sentimental story of downtrodden dweeb, Seymour Krelborn, played by sophomore Alexander Sherman, who is forced to sleep under the counter in the basement of Mushnik's Flower Shop. Mr. Mushnik, played by sophomore Aristotle Kousakis, treats the adorably pathetic and bumbling Seymour like dirt. As Seymour bemoans his fate, he swoons over the shop's sweet secretary, Audrey, portrayed by sophomore Julia Arazi. Audrey, played with a deep and smoky voice, is trapped in an abusive relationship with a psychotic denstist, Orin Scrivello, played by junior Armen Nercessian.

Seymour finds an outlet for his affection when he discovers a "strange and interesting plant" during a solar eclipse months earlier and decides to name the plant "Audrey II." Seymour's discovery seems like the answer to all of his problems as the bizarre fly trap saves Mr. Mushnick's failing flower shop and wins him the attention of his love interest, Audrey.

Things seem to be looking up for Seymour as Audrey II brings fame and fortune to the "Skidrow" flower shop until Seymour's botanical find turns out to have a dangerously insatiable appetite. When Seymour discovers the "secret formula" to save Audrey II's wilting leaves is actually human blood, he is able to appease the plant by pricking his own fingers until the exponentially growing plant starts demanding bigger and fresher flesh.

The deliberately dark tone, set by the show's visual elements, effectively contrasted the blatant but disturbing absurdity of the plot as well as the catchy Motown-esque musical score. As costumes and props adjusted to reflect the darkening mood and thickening plot, the music effectively moved the show along. The audience left the theater invariably humming one of the show's hit numbers, "Skidrow."

The over-the-top characters were portrayed wonderfully with good old fashioned physical comedy. The Doo-Wop girls, played by sophomore Kirign Elstad, senior Nicole Frattaroli, and sophomore Valerie Hattis, helped to smoothly deliver the show's narration as the commenting chorus. Clad with teased hair, tight retro dresses, four inch pumps, and fifties-esque clam diggers, the talented but trampy Skidrow girls, along with their various outfits, are a perfect reflection of the show's darkening mood as well as its increasing absurdity.

Nercessian, could not have played a better Orin Scrivello. In his motorcycle leather jacket, the pain-obsessed, nitrous oxide inhaling dentist looked like a combination of an aggressive John Belushi and a very greasy, hip swiveling Elvis. With one latex glove, bad boy Nercessian performs a mock oral examination on the three Doo-Wop girls as they seem to experience an orgasmic rush and gasp for air when he tells them to, "open wide."

By the end of Act I, the human actors are hilariously upstaged by a now talking and singing plant who is, at this point, taking up a considerable portion of the stage. The voice of junior Andrew Beattie bellows out from the mouth of a frighteningly large and animate plant puppet, shouting, "feed me... feed me all night long!" The meek and loyal Seymour, feeling like he owes everything to Audrey II, responds to the plant's jivin' demands by making supper out of Audrey's sadistic boyfriend.

When a young cowboy entrepreneur played by junior Dan Balkin presents the opportunity to market Audrey II and guarantees to have the popular plant in every household in America, Seymour realizes that this was what Audrey II had been planning all along. Deciding that the murderous plant had gone too far, Seymour finds himself in a climactic showdown between himself and the monstrous flower.

Sherman effectively brings his character into hysterics as he finds himself sick with mad scientist syndrome and without a reason to live on his own when he finally throws himself into the carnivorous jaws of his own creation, Audrey II.

In the end, with the majority of the cast somewhere under the stage, the moral of the story is clear, resounding in the actors' final song, "don't feed the plant!"