Little Shop of Horrors is a big production - literally.
It's about a giant plant that brings fame to the rundown New York florist shop that it occupies. This parody of '60s-style B-movies is horror at its most absurd, but when the production first opened off Broadway in 1982, it won the New York drama critics award. This version uses a singing, dancing Driftwood Players cast and almost as many crew members to put together a set that will occupy every inch of the Heritage Playhouse stage.
Driftwood Players have been raising the bar on theatrical excellence for the past year. Last summer's successful production of Quilters with its accompanying music and complex set was a challenge. Then, last autumn's staging of The Drawer Boy demonstrated more performance artistry.
Now the troupe is tackling another complicated production, and director Dave Hurtubise has told his cast confidently: "We have the potential to kick ass with this show." Stage manager Susan Beer agrees that they have not chosen the safe path.
"This is not like anything we've done before," said the experienced actor and director.
Take, for example, the building of Audrey II, the play's botanical villain. Producer Bill Forst asked Adrienne Ucciferri if she would like to take on building a puppet. She had been costume designer for previous productions and gladly agreed.
"Yikes," she said later. "I had no idea it would be like this."
Audrey II must be recreated at all stages of its growth in every detail, complete with its sharp, shiny teeth. The biggest incarnation of the plant reaches almost two metres high and boasts twice that length in tentacles. It must move about on stage, slide up and down - oh, and it has to eat people. (Don't sit too close to the stage for this one!) A special location, a workshop on Chamberlin Road in Gibsons, is being used for construction. Ironically, the building was formerly a garden shop.
Also working away at another site in Gibsons, set designer Susan Rule along with Gerry Watson is recreating the New York skyline and the skid row flower shop.
"This is the biggest set ever for this stage," said Rule, who also plays Rosie the waitress during the show.
Several other experienced performers are involved. The flower shop assistants are played by singer Skye Wallace (previously seen in The Melville Boys and Ten Lost Years) and stage newcomer Davin Reid of Hopkins, who has found his new vocation in acting. The shop's owner, the crafty Mushnik, is played by Stephen Archibald who is new to the Coast and has 40 years experience in theatre, film and opera.
Les Fowler directs the music for a cast of well known, local musicians: Paula Seward, Gaetan Bergevin, John Rule, Boyd Norman and Ken Dalgleish. Other local singers such as Patrice Pollack of Definitely Diva, Angie Cruikshank and Carole Carlton lend their fine voices to the show. Hurtubise, who many will remember from his last appearance in The Foursome in 2009, is also an experienced professional.
Little Shop of Horrors is written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken. It runs April 2 and 3, then again April 8 to 10 with a matinée on April 7. In another unusual move for Driftwood, the play will then relocate to the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt for a limited run. Tickets for $20 and $10 for students are on sale now.
