Photo: Poh Yu Khing / Sing’Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors
Sing’Theatre
14 April 2024
SOTA Drama Theatre
12–28 April 2024

If you think about it, Little Shop of Horrors is ludicrous. 

The plot is an over-the-top cautionary tale about the insatiable nature of ambition and greed personified (or “botanified”?) by an ever-hungry man-eating plant. The references in Howard Ashman’s lyrics and Alan Menken’s music are indulgent pastiches of their favourite aspects of 1950s and 1960s pop culture.

Seymour is a bumbling and innocent orphan who was taken in by Mr Musnik to work at his flower store. His interest in exotic plants leads him to acquire an odd plant which he names Audrey II, after his colleague whom he has a crush on. In a chance encounter, Seymour discovers that the plant seems to only thrive on human blood, and things go downhill as the plant grows along with its voracious appetite.

So why would one sit through two hours only to be given a superficial message of not feeding the plant? 

The energetic and delightful performances by the cast. 

Andrew Marko is endearing as the earnest Seymour who goes out of his way to do anything for the plant and Audrey. He proves to be quite versatile being able to sing, dance, puppeteer Audrey II (when it was small), and react to Audrey II wanting to bite others.

While the characters in this musical are largely sketches, Audrey is given more character development. She presents herself as a ditzy airhead due to a low self-esteem and trauma from abusive relationships, but deep down, she wants more out of life.

Vanessa Kee portrays the ditzy side of Audrey with high-pitched squeaks and tottering on high heels, but adjusts her vocals—due to the exigencies of singing—to deliver a wistful and heartfelt rendition of “Somewhere That’s Green”.  The contrast is too stark and it feels that Kee is playing two different characters rather than showing different facets of the same person. 

On top of his directing duties, TJ Taylor somehow manages to find time to understudy the role of Mr Mushnik and gives him more depth than just a grumpy old man. 

Photo: Poh Yu Khing / Sing’Theatre

AJ Alingalan (Crystal), Nurulhuda Hassan (Ronette), and Marissa Vojodi (Chiffon) rich vocal harmonies and sassy attitude as the street urchins are entertaining. And Honey Gluttony (aka Tony Tong) voicing Audrey II is great fun and unnerving at the same time.

Benjamin Koh plays Orin, Audrey’s sadistic dentist boyfriend, and a slew of characters offering Seymour lucrative deals in “The Meek Shall Inherit”. Koh plays all the characters to the hilt, lending the show grittiness and hilarity equally. 

To top it all off, given that the musicians (Elaine Chan, Jane Foo, Lee Lin Chow, Lee Fengheng) are hidden behind the set, and do not have a direct view of the performers, the spot-on coördination across the music, singing, and other cues is impressive.   

While the stage seems quite small for a musical, Wong Chee Wai’s set design cleverly makes use of every space available to bring Skid Row to life. The main set piece is the interior of Mr Mushnik’s store, but with just a screen coming down, we are immediately sent to the back of the store. Other neat tricks like the moving hands of the clock and a quick tap on the wall to change the store sign adds to the overall delight of the show. 

Just as Seymour got his strange plant after a “total eclipse of the sun”, I caught the show a few days after a solar eclipse by coïncidence. But what is not coïncidental is the thought, skill, and talent on display. 

While we all know the main warning of the show, Sing’Theatre has the wherewithal to water the plant just a little more. 

Other Reviews

Theatre review: Stellar vocals and comedic timing in Little Shop Of Horrors by Charmaine Lim, The Straits Times Life!

Sing’theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors delivers a gritty charm and stellar performances by Xiao Xing Wan, TimeOut

‘Little Shop of Horrors’ review: Audience will eat up every note of this musical by Sing’Theatre by Beverly Anne Devakishen, SG Magazine

Sing’theatre’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is a Musical Feast by Derrick Lim, The Flying Inkpot