Review: Horrible Plant a Star in Barter's 'Little Shop of Horrors'

By: TriCities Staff | TriCities.com
Published: September 23, 2009

ABINGDON, Va. -- Forget Wall Street meltdowns, health care proposals and cash-for-clunker plans – if you really want to be scared silly, check out Barter Stage II’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” where an alien Venus flytrap seems to have cross-pollinated with a not-so-Jolly Green Giant who is fed up with eating vegetables.
The result is what appears to be a ravished, snake-head fish head big enough to gobble down poor Michael Poisson with a couple of chomps.
It’s all in good comedic form, of course, but I swear that darned plant, named Audrey II by the way, is really the stuff of nightmares.
Designed by Chase Molden and voiced by Jasper McGruder, Audrey II reminds me of those stories about SCUBA divers who report seeing giant catfish at the bottom of Claytor Lake so scary that said divers have sworn off all water that isn’t mixed half-n-half with something alcoholic.
A quickly rising star of the Barter, David McCall, plays Seymour, the nerdy florist shop attendant who discovers the infant Audrey II, that has just, by the way, arrived from outer space – and feeds it with his own blood until it nearly drains him as it grows larger and larger.
The strange and interesting plant, however, begins bringing in more and more business for Mushnik’s Skid Row Florist Shop and has the television networks seeking out Seymour for interviews and lucrative job offers.
Alas, though, as Audrey II grows to the size of two queen-sized mattresses in love, she begins to expand her diet to include a sadistic dentist (Danny Vaccaro) and even the florist shop owner, Mr. Mushnik (Michael Poisson).
Naturally enough, there is a love interest here in the tasty form of Audrey (for whom the lovestruck Seymour has named his plant) played by Hannah Ingram. She’s always wanted to get off of skid row and go to “someplace green” and, that, unfortunately, is where she ends up. Enough said.
There is also a sort of Greek chorus to keep things moving right along in the forms of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette (Lea S. Anderson, Taprena Augustine and Dayna J. Dantzler).
In addition to his duties as the voice of Audrey II, McGruder also plays a derelict drunk and does one of the most accurate renditions of a jake-leg walk I’ve ever seen. (This was a deadly condition that afflicted and actually killed many alcoholics during Prohibition from drinking Jamaican Ginger flavoring to which the government had added a chemical supposed to discourage its large-scale consumption.)
“Little Shop of Horrors,” despite giving me nightmares, is a real hoot of comedy, terror, music and downright camp. It might be a bit intense for some younger folks (even those of us who will never see 39 again – or 60 for that matter) so if you plan to take the kids, you might want to prep them a little. Actually, it’ll probably be you squeezing their arms in terror and not the other way around.
-- The show runs through Nov. 15. For dates, times and reservations: (276) 628-3991 or www.bartertheatre.com.

Review: Horrible Plant a Star in Barter's 'Little Shop of Horrors'

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