Little Shop of Horrors - Shine Studios
Sat, 13 June 2009, 09:58 amManuao7 posts in thread
Little Shop of Horrors - Shine Studios
Sat, 13 June 2009, 09:58 amOn a cool June night I was not looking forward to leaving the house, But this is one of my all time favourite musicals!
The leads in the show that I attended last night were Bri Williams, Emmet Nichols, Ben Bull and Cameron Lynch. Congratulations all I found your characters were well executed, accents great and songs were sung well.
Over all I found the show to be most enjoying. However the audio did bring the quality of the show down. I know the show and the lines well so I didn't realise how bad the audio was until a friend who I attended the show with(who had never seen it before) told me at intermission that he coudn't make out most of the words during the songs. Crystal/Chiffon/Ronette could not be heard clearly throughout most of the show. The band sounded good and were not loud by any means, but the level of the microphones that the performers had did not match them and at times became muffled and distorted their voices. Chris Messina (who played the voice of Audrey II) on the otherhand sounded fantastic vocally and by volume! He obviously had the advantage of being backstage and on a handheld mic.
Although the chorus were enthusiastic I found their presence on stage at times distracting, from the point that the stage was full of performers during chorus numbers but only a few of them were singing. Skid Row was a good example of this. A lot was happening, but not much could be heard (I'm sure this was partially down to mics as well)
I have mixed opinions on the lighting for the show. The use of the lighting on the sets and props were great but at times the performers weren't lit at all during their songs.
My only other negative feedback of the show was the Choreography. I believe a show like this requires very minimal choreography, purely because many of the songs require choreographed movement rather then dancing. So the dancing looked out of place in many of songs and had a "tacked on" appearance.
Congratulations must go to Iskandar Sharazuddin (and extras) for the puppeteering skills of Audrey II. Not an easy task to be animated through means of a mouth of a venus flytrap, but you did! with Gusto!
The sets for this production were inventive, creative and well constructed. The series of Audrey II's were amazing as was the make-shift dentist chair! I think the direction of Kirsty Messina complimented the performers and the sets extremely well!
Had I had more time I would have liked to watch the performace again with the other leads to see what they did with their characters, but sadly I can't.
Shine Studios have created a lively and fun performance of this show. Congratulations team and all the best for your remaining 4 performances!
Gee "Huh?!" you're being a
Tue, 16 June 2009, 01:24 pmWalter Plinge
Gee "Huh?!" you're being a little harsh I think. The stage, set and choreography were far superior to that of normal amateur theatre in Perth.
HOWEVER I went to see the show twice (for different casts) and I can semi-understand where you are coming from depending on the cast you saw.
(Apologies to the actors but I don't know your names and after spending $28 per show - I really didn't want to spend an extra $7 on a program)
The first night I went there was a shorter female playing Audrey and a taller male playing Seymour. I felt these two leads were very much mis-casted. In terms of appearance the male actor looked more like that Arrows Computer guy than anyone from Skidrow, let alone Seymour. And the actress who played Audrey was so over-exaggerated that I felt it was very amateur. There was very little realism to the character and although it made it slightly more humourous at times, it really made me feel it was just another amateur theatre show with overacting actors and actresses who just couldn't wait to show everything they have on stage - not something ALL characters require.
The singing was ok. Both actor/actress CAN sing, but not in character. In "Suddenly Seymour" I could barely hear the male, but the female was belting it out like Aretha Franklin and had a slightly deeper tone than what I thought Audrey would. However, kudos as it is a hard song.
The second night I went, there were new leads - this time a taller Audrey and a shorter Seymour. After watching that show I was truly taken away and changed my opinion about the "amateur-ness" of the show. I found these two leads brought a lot more realism to their characters and even looked the part. I felt teary in the scene where Audrey died that night (as opposed to the previous night where I was just slightly relieved). There were times when I couldn't hear this Audrey too well, but the fact that she pulled off the innocence so well made the sound issue forgivable. These two also pulled off "Suddenly Seymour" marvelously. Instead of cringing I could actually feel these characters. They made you believe they were in love. Kudos!
In terms of the other leads and casts, I felt they were very good on both nights. The dentist was the same actor on both nights and I thought he was marvelous. Apart from the giant plant, he was definitely the most entertaining element of the show. On both nights I went he portrayed his character flawlessly (and almost EXACTLY the same) and the audience and myself could not help but sit stunned and amazed at his gas-mask scene. I think on the second night the same actor also played the bum who also created a few laughs.
The urchins were fantastic. They stood out when they were supposed to and laid low appropriately (kudos to Director and choreographer). The dancers were all very professional and whilst I do agree - this show doesn't really require that much dancing - it didn't take away from my experience of the show at all. As for the plant and plant voice - WOW WOW WOW! That in itself is worth the $28. I don't know the mechanics of it or care to know, but it is definitely not something you would find in a normal amateur theatre show. It practically came alive!
Overall, great production, great choreo and great direction. Slightly mis-casted but from what I saw, that really only applies to 2 characters, which they made up for by having the other cast. A fair notch above amateur I'd say.