Off to see a show

I will be in the company of two very lovely ladies this evening while I am entertained by the wonderful actors of the Williams County Community theater.

It was a wonderful evening that started with dinner at the local Mexican restaurant.  There was a time I could not say that in Williams County since there was more than one Mexican restaurant.  Now we just have one restaurant and a Taco Bell (which is not a Mexican Restaurant). Good food, good company, what more could you ask for.

Well, we went on to the theater and saw a wonderful show, that is what we could have asked for.  The Ohio part of my family was completed when my oldest daughter made it to the theater.

The show was “The Little Shop of Horrors”.  It should be known, that I loved the 1960 black and white movie.  I was not a fan of the 1986 musical version.  The play is what the 1986 movie is based on.  I was only looking to be impressed by the many people working on the show.  I did not think the show would impress me.  Happily, I was mistaken.  The show itself brought back many memories of the original 1960 show.  Of course, I still wonder why they had to add music, but that is me. 😉

The story was the one I remembered.  Mysterious, blood thirsty plant makes a small rundown flower shop a place to stop.  For me the sign of a good musical is that the music does not interfere with the story.   The three street urchins were a treat to watch and listen to.  If the rest of the show had been pedestrian, these three would have made the show.  They were that fun.  The actor playing Mister Mushnik was also very good in his role.   He had the worried shop keeper down to a ‘T’.   The actors playing Audrey and Seymour had very good chemistry and their acting and singing voices meshed well.  They were interesting and fun to watch.

Now on to Audrey II.  The voice and acting of the monstrous plant were two separate actors.  From what I saw, they must have put a lot of work into their performances.  Matching ‘mouth’ and plant movements to the words coming from offstage must have been a difficult timing situation.  I saw this performance two times this weekend, and I was impressed both times.  Again a plus to the show.

Now those who know the show and have seen it on stage before may have noticed I missed a character or two (5+???) .  One final actor played the remaining roles.   I was very impressed.  Many different characters from one actor.  He made each and every character different from the others.  Even though everyone in the audience could tell that this was the same actor, he impressed me with the talent he displayed on each character.  That and being able to sing while pretending to be under the influence of laughing gas… Wow!!

I wish I would have been able to see this show the first weekend.  I would have loved to give my opinion to others who were still wondering if they should see it.  From what I could tell, it almost sold out the last weekend.  A good turnout for a wonderful show.

justj