Audrey II’s have been chewing up metropolises — and stage scenery — for 26 years now, but Boulder’s Dinner Theatre proves there are still a few drops of mean green blood left in the carnivorous cutting.
Three reasons to revisit the horticultural hellhound (sorry), starting with Joanie Brosseau-Beyette and Brandon Dill as the lovers bound by bloodletting. (A sadistic dentist beats her; he opens his veins to feed his foul fern).
Third, of course, is Robert Johnson as the voice of the botanical barbarian (last time, I swear). You may recall his heady days with the 17th Avenue All-Stars but, trust me, if you’ve ever turned on a TV or a radio, you’ve heard that voice. (Trivia: A Denver Center Theatre all-star, the late, great Ron Taylor, originated the role of AII in 1982).
“Little Shop of Horrors” is, of course, the lighthearted and morally ambivalent musical parody of Roger Corman’s 1960 B-movie classic (starring Jack Nicholson) about the nerd who gets famous by unknowingly nurturing his strange and exotic space-plant all the way to world domination. The stage musical became a hit film again in 1986, and the plant has taken up residence in theaters large and small since.
Dill and Brosseau-Beyette could not be more capable, or capably paired, to play the geek and the adorably lisping, low-esteem beauty.
In more than 50 productions at BDT, it’s conceivable Brosseau-Beyette has been better, but if so, I didn’t see it. She’s doe-eyed, heartbreaking and real.
And put a ball cap and thick glasses on Dill, and he wears Seymour like a second plaid skin. Together, their voices are pure flower power. When she sings “Somewhere That’s Green,” and he sings “Suddenly Seymour,” the cost of your ticket is redeemed.
But what makes them really special together are the acting chops: the uncanny vulnerability and the note-perfect, loving longing they infuse in these hapless characters in search of a better life.
And they’re pretty funny.
Director’s Michael J. Duran’s staging is impressive in all the usual areas: The rotating set; the live, four-piece rock combo. Local puppet master Cory Gilstrap’s green monster grows to such fun proportions, it requires two actors to manipulate and a rotating assortment of eight flailing kids tucked into its roots (two at a time).
But this is also a squeaky clean and straightforward presentation that doesn’t add much that’s original to the telling. So if you know the story, this version isn’t likely to surprise you much. But audiences who are new to the tale (if that’s possible) might be fairly blown away.
Still, I gotta say this: Despite the evident vocal skills of three young newcomers who play the Supremes-inspired Greek Chorus, it’s a disappointment that Duran didn’t commit to finding three black actresses to play Ronnette, Crystal and Chiffon. This is the company that just a year ago created a seminal, racially mixed production of “Ragtime” with the black Shadow Theatre Company.
But this is the second straight show in which Duran has cast black roles with white actors. These three make urban skid row look more like a snapshot from A&F’s Highlands Ranch catalog. This is R&B, baby, and no matter how you slice it, the Andrews Sisters were no Supremes.
There are other issues. A.K. Klimpke is one of the funniest guys in the land, but he’s not well cast as the sadistic, leather- bound dentist made famous by Steve Martin. He’s more creepy than comic, and his long death scene is no gas to watch.
There’s also a pandering moment when Channel 4’s Greg Moody’s identified voice comes on as a radio personality, a distraction not only because this is a time of Hula-Hoops, “I Love Lucy” and Wolfman Jack. This also isn’t the first time BDT and Moody have engaged in a shameless publicity exchange (he performed in BDT’s “The Music Man” for a week). This association is mutual self- promotion at best; an egregious breach of ethics (by both sides) at worst.
And while “Little Shop” is breezy fun throughout, it goes off the deep-green end with a zombified finale that’s more appropriate for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” than “subsequent to the events we have just witnessed.” But no matter. By then, the crowd is won over, clapping along and happy.
And that’s the way you want to leave them: Happy and well-fed . . . as opposed to, well — fed (to the plant).
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Little Shop of Horrors” *** (out of four stars)
B-movie parody. Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, 5501 Arapahoe Ave. Through May 3. 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 7:45 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 1:45 and 7:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner service 90 minutes before). 2 hours. $34-$53. 303-449-6000 or .
