‘Down on Skid Row…’ Little Shop of Horror’s, Regents Park Open Air Theatre, London. 08.09.2018

I had a show booked for the evening, one I would be very excited about returning to! With an afternoon free to do as I wish and the weather looking promising, I knew which show to kick start my two show day!

It would be my first time at the Regent Open Air Theatre, I was so happy I chose Little Shop of Horrors to introduce me! I took my seat in Row S seat 49, central to the action as the theatre itself is in the round. My view was perfect, I could see the full stage and for the price I paid it was perfect! There is always a risk with an open air production, if there is rain it is likely the production will be stopped – lucky today the sun and weather behaved for this cheeky matinee!

Little Shop of Horrors, tells the story of the misfits of Skid Row, life is full of broken dreams and dead ends. But there’s hope on the horizon for flower shop assistant, Seymour, when he discovers a mysterious new plant with ‘killer’ potential. A cult classic that is loved by many. I personally loved the film and have only caught it live by a youth group last year, I was looking forward to how this one would be portrayed! With book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Music by Alan Menken (Disney’s Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast), this is a fun packed dark comedy that when you see it, will make you understand why it such a cult classic!

The first thing you notice is the set, being that you are already outside and in the round the run down Skid Row is true to its word. With grey knocked up buildings and a broken God Bless America sign. It really helped with the introduction of Audrey II being so vibrant and green it stood out brilliantly, you could slowly notice it taking over the stage! Being in the round, the production plays well in ensuring everyone gets a good look in, myself situated dead center and towards the very back had no issues  with the view. The only downside being that I was at the matinee, was that I couldn’t appreciated the lighting design as pretty much the natural light took over. I can only imagine the impact it makes to an evening performance but not having it didn’t take away from the show one bit! If anything it made it more unique as with pigeons flying around the cast at times brought them into the performance which gave the audience a small chuckle!

The cast that afternoon was:

Seymour – Marc Antolin

Audrey – Jemima Rooper

Mr Mushnik – Forbes Mason

Audrey II – Vicky Vox

Orin – Matt Willis

Chiffon – Renee Lamb

Ronnette – Christina Modestou

Crystal – Seyi Omooba

Ensemble – Joe Allen, Josh Baker, Billy Cullum, Julian Hoult, Rosalind James, Bobbie Little, Helen Siveter, Mary Lynn Tiep.

Matt Willis takes to the stage as the pain giver lover Dentist Orin, known mainly from his music group Busted it would be the first time that I have seen him act on stage – knowing he has played on the west end before. I was blown away by his performance, his take on Orin was just perfect in every way. Mad, twisted, funny, and weird all in one, he really looked like he was loving playing the role – you could also see he had done his research, as at times he had a glimpse of Steve Martin who played the part in the film version! But, not only did he do well as Orin, the numerous roles that he appeared in Act two were also just as good and funny! I look forward to whatever future roles he gets his teeth into!

The leading duo of Audrey and Seymour were played by Marc Antolin and Jemima Rooper, Jemima was the spitting image of Audrey from accent to persona. Her voice was beautiful along with Marc, who’s Seymour was innocent and sweet that made in instantly loved by the audience. Their duet ‘Suddenly Seymour’ was a personal highlight and their chemistry on stage was perfect! I was also very happy to be seeing Forbes Mason performing again as Mr Mushnik, is there no character that this actor can’t play? Forbes transforms into any role he takes on and you can’t help but be amazed at his performance!

Now usually Audrey II (the plant) is played by a puppet with a voice actor off stage, but this performance makes a new take on the role and introduces drag queen Vicky Vox as Audrey II. Being a huge fan of Ru Paul’s Drag Race I love anything drag, so I was so excited to see Vicky perform as the evil man eating plant! (Spoiler Alert!) She was perfect! She slays in the role, and is FABuLOUS in everyway, her voice, costumes, make up is all spot on. It was a perfect new take on the role and one you fall in love instantly and wander, why didn’t they think of this before?

I was so happy to have caught this production during its run at the Regent’s Open Air Theatre, making my first outdoor theatre experience great in everyway. Should their be any future productions of this Iconic musical, it has such a hard act to follow! If you missed it, you should be disappointed!