Review: Market Theatre’s “Little Shop of Horrors” a Delectable Treat
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
At the Market Theatre, “Little Shop of Horrors” blossoms like a sly grin—one part gothic carnival, one part downtown satire. Just in time for the season of cobwebs and candy corn, this gleefully macabre musical feels both homegrown and otherworldly, a parable of ambition gone feral, set to a doo-wop beat. What begins as a Skid Row riff on “The Shop Around the Corner” quickly mutates into a technicolor nightmare closer to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” where flora takes its revenge and innocence is devoured by appetite.
In a doo-wop world, complete with a three-woman Greek Chorus in sequins blending scenes and story, director and cast approach the cult classic not as camp, but as something more precise—a morality tale disguised as a farce. Alex Poteat’s nebbishy Seymour Krelborn, with his slouched shoulders and dogged optimism, makes a tender fool of himself before the altar of success. He discovers, rather literally, a plant that feeds on blood. Andrew Collins gives that botanical demon, Audrey II, a voice as smooth and menacing as a Motown crooner. When the plant sings, it feels like the city’s hunger made audible.
Ashley Wettlin’s Audrey, all nerves and makeup and perilous hope, supplies the show’s fragile soul. Perhaps the play's most gifted singer, she drifts through the grime with grace, equal parts torch singer and trapped bird. Her pairing with Seymour feels both absurd and inevitable—two strays in search of sunlight, caught in the shadow of their own yearning. Around them, the production builds a comic ecosystem: Brandon Ledford’s dentist, a psychotic and narcissistic swagger wrapped in leather and decay; Rob Gentry’s shop owner Mushnik, the weary patriarch whose thrift curdles to greed.
The staging, a feat of clever manipulation and grotesque charm, turns the flower shop into a funhouse where morality wilts under fluorescent light. The three-woman chorus—sequined sentinels of fate—keeps the story pulsing with cynical cheer, their harmonies as tight as the sidewalk corners they haunt. By the finale, when roots burst free of their pots and the audience faces the green maw of consequence, laughter slides easily into recognition.
The Market Theatre’s production team deserves credit for creating a superior experience in a show which could easily have eroded into the realm of hokey. The continual atmospheric rear-projection time-period black-and-white video scroll both advanced the pace of the play providing an engaging and important set element.
The same is true for those charged with the special effects, which in lesser hands could have been a distraction. The ever-growing monster is handled deftly and manages to be both Cookie Monster silly and Uncle Deadly frightening. The design and implementation provided visuals that blended well into the character making the work compelling and never distracting.
“Little Shop of Horrors,” in this Market Theatre revival, feels oddly prophetic—a fable about consumption, both economic and emotional, rendered with wit and affection. It’s a perfect bloom of the ridiculous and the sublime, where Skid Row and showbiz meet, and the applause sounds just a bit like feeding time.
"Little Shop of Horrors” runs through Nov. 3. Tickets here.
Cast: Seymour Krelborn – Alex Poteat; Audrey – Ashley Wettlin; Mr. Mushnik – Rob Gentry; Orin Scrivello – Brandon Ledford; Audrey II (Voice) – Andrew Collins; Ronnette – Lydia Brown; Crystal – Simone Cheek; Chiffon – Mimi Massey; Puppeteers & Ensemble – Bess Bergin, TJ Fisher, Ty Rabideau, Lily Schuchart.
Crew: Director & Choreographer – Thor Raines; Music Director – Julie Florin; Stage Managers – Emily Mitchell & Rosie Thompson; Production Designer – Noah Taylor; Technical Director – Dalton Cole; Props Manager – Matthew McCaskill; Puppet Charge Artist – Casey Bates; Scenic Artist – Andrea Seemuller; Scenic Painter – Eliza Burdette; Costume Charge & Seamstress – Lin Hagen; Sound Operator – Kaitlyn Crocker; Producers – Noah Taylor & Drew Whitley; Box Office – Paige Whitman & David Veatch; Business Operations – Courtney Dorn; Program Operations – Drew Kenyon
