Little Shop of Horrors

25-27 September 2008
A funny, entertaining and novel modern Musical

It was eighteen months ago that the vision of creating an Autumn production in the FAOS calendar was first muted. The idea was to perform a show that was more contemporary in style than the Spring production and to appeal to younger people, both in taking part in the show and coming to watch.

Congratulations must go to the Production Team; Susi Tenty (Director/Choreographer), David Hynds (Musical Director) and Terry Baldwin (Production Manager), on putting this new autumn production firmly on the Society's map. The highly accomplished five-piece 'Little Band of Horrors' was excellent under the direction of David.

The Society was delighted to welcome half of the cast as 'new faces'. In the leading role as Seymour, Davey Evans excelled and really held the show together. It seems like he's been with us forever but in fact he has not been with the Society for twelve months yet and is already a key central figure both on stage and off. Playing opposite Davey (in life as well as on stage) was Nicole Wooldridge in the role of Audrey. Nicole has 'wowed' audiences for six years since taking on the lead role of Aladdin when she was only 13, but this performance was undoubtedly her finest to date.

We were delighted to welcome Liam McGee, from Nunney Players, into the role of Mushnik. His performance was true perfection, especially the way he maintained his accent so convincingly throughout (if we ever do Fiddler on the Roof again I think Humphrey Barnes might find competition for the role of Tevye)! We hope he will be with us for many years to come.

Society favourite Nevil Poole really came into his own in the role of Orin the dentist. His facial expressions were wicked and his vocal talents expressed to the full. Again, as with Nicole, many observers felt this was his finest role for the Society.

It cannot be overstated how important the role of Audrey 2 (the plant) is, within 'Little Shop of Horrors'. In Chis Anderson we found the perfect voice and coupled with Andy Tawses' manipulation, the two of them 'brought the house down' once they entered the action. Their scenes with Seymour were especially brilliant.

Sometimes overlooked, the roles of Chiffon, Ronnette and Crystal are central to moving the story forward and in Sam Griggs, Sarah Connew and Lizzie Coxon-Tenty we saw three performances packed with vitality, ensuring that the show moved with pace. They were backed by three singers (Anne Dimery, Heather Cox and Lou Knight) to help augment the quality, following an idea originally thought of by Martin Dimery and it worked a treat. We hope to see much more of all six ladies in future productions.

Other minor parts were all excellently portrayed and the chorus and dancers added tremendously to the 'fun' of the whole piece. Congratulations to all involved on stage, back stage, front of house and in the build up. A tremendous 'team effort' to get this new production off the ground and in the words of the Somerset Standard 'bring on The Full Monty'!

This was written by Andrew Carpenter
'Little Shop of Horrors' Producer
FAOS Chairman

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