Thursday May 17, 1984 -- The Prince George's Post

Entertainment________________________________________

Warner Theatre-'Little Shop of Horrors' Will Tickle Your Ribs

By Sharon Kennedy

...."The Little Shop of Horrors," a musical revival of an absurd horror movie, will tickle your ribs. And Audrey II grows on you with a gut-grabbing ferocity. Audrey II, by nature a Venus Flytrap, was born in 1950 near the Little Shop of Horrors, a skid-row flower shop. The nostalgic 50s music, to lyrics by Howard Ashman, gives Audrey II and the audience a ravenous desire for more.

Gregarious, gorgeous and gluttonous are descriptive of this cute three-month-old sprite. Substitute mother Seymour (Ken Ward) names the sprite Audrey II (Michael Leslie and William Szymanski) after his favorite girl Audrey (Eydie Alyson). In its swaddling clay pot, Audrey II accompanies
mother Seymour everywhere he goes.

Under Seymour's nurturing, Audrey II changes the very lives of his flower-shop family: Audrey, Mr. Mushnik (Stan Rubin), close neighbors Orin (Ken Land), Chiffon (B. J. Jefferson), Crystal (Suzanne Douglas) and Ronnette (Louise Robinson). Overnight, Audrey II became a mutant when exposed to a total eclipse of the sun, not by a bombardment of nuclear waste.

Seymour laments "Grow for Me" when Audrey II looks a bit under the weather. The next day Seymour has all 10 fingers wrapped
in Band-Aids, and we discover that Audrey II has revived from just a few drops of blood. In another corner, Mr. Mushnik laments over Seymour's help and the shop's poor business. Even with the hardship of low pay and long hours at Mushnik's flower shop, Seymour gives his life's blood and more to keep Audrey II happy. Overjoyed with Audrey II's growth, Seymour shows Audrey II to the gang on the block: Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette. After all, that is what any proud parent would do.

Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette, wearing bobby socks, short skirts and tops, lead Seymour and Audrey II through tuneful reminiscing of Danny and Juniors, the Del Vikings, the Redcaps and others of the 50s and early 60s. But at three months, Audrey II has no ear for music, and reaches out of his swaddling clay pot to bite Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette as they pass.

For the moment, Seymour manages to control Audrey's taste. Still, this is just a hint of Audrey II's ravenous appetite.

The neighborhood gang is taken with little Audrey II, and pass the word of his whereabouts. Soon business is thriving to the point where Mr. Mushnik makes Seymour his son in "Mushnik and Son," in an adaptation from "Fiddler on the Roof." All the fam£' goes to Audrey II's head and makes his appetite for larger game grow with "Feed Me."

The first victim to succumb to Audrey II's appetite is Audrey's boyfriend, ann, a Hell's Angel type. Seymour, who has always wanted Audrey, captures Orin and feeds him bit by bit to Audrey II.

On the block, Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette use a bit of friendly persuasion to grab bucks from Mr. Mushnik's customers. They make for a miraculous transformation from bobby socks and short skirts to the affluent society.

Back at the flower shop, Seymour, who has always been in love with Audrey, is supposed to get his girl. A dumb, innocent, blonde, Audrey is a perfect match for Seymour. But there is Audrey II to think about. A 50s tune by Lloyd Price, "Personality," says it all. Audrey II gets it all....