I must apologise for the larger than life poster. The 3 women you see on it aren't quite lookers I know, save for maybe Emma Yong. She's the one with the yellow orchid in her hair =))
Anyway we just returned from catching the Dim Sum Dollies (DSD) in their off-Broadway adaptation of the black-comedy the Little Shop of Horrors.
The original 60's film of the same name became famous because it was shot in only 3 days. Very briefly, it tells the story of how a nerdy florist-assistant named Seymour cross-breeds a giant mutant Venus Fly Trap that makes him famous. But the catch is, the plant (which he names Audrey Jnr after his girlfriend) eats flesh and drinks blood and when Seymour starts to get anaemic feeding the damn thing his own fluids, Audrey Jnr starts to devour humans, whole. And by the way the monster plant talks!
Bizarre! =))
Really sounds like some B-grade horror flick but apparently, Little Shop earned rave reviews on Broadway when it was staged in the 80s. So Kudos to the DSD for experimenting with this production, a departure from their previous 2 shows which were more or less stand-up comedies with a string of song-and-dance routines thrown in for good measure.
But although Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong receive top billing for Little Shop, this is misleading because the real protagonists in the production are Hossan Leong (who plays Seymour) and Denise Tan (who plays his girlfriend Audrey). Dave Tan, front-man of
IT local band of the moment Electrico, is the voice of Audrey II the evil Orchid in this locally-inspired adaptation.
The DSD have been reduced to carrying out their antics in a somewhat supporting role running parallel to the original plot, providing comic relief in their usual SQ Girl and Parking Warden
makcik parodies. I mean they tried to give the storyline a DSD twist but although I must admit they were pretty hilarious, their intermmitent appearances did not really gel well with the flow of the plot. At times, it seemed that they had to sing and dance only so the backstage crew could change the backdrop or swop some props for the next scene.
Otherwise, Hossan and Denise gave credible individual performances. This Denise I have not heard of before but boy the girl can sing. Stick Insect Hossan slips effortlessly into the role of nerdy Seymour but somehow, he lacks the stage presence to..err...make a presence. Too skinny
lah I suppose. But the little gay-boy's talent is palpable.
If you ask me, I'll give Little Shop a 6.5/10 overall. This comes from a 7.5 for effort and originality but a 5.5 for technical execution.
Its run has been extended to 22 Nov so catch it if you can calibrate your expectations accordingly. I'll just have Dim Sum at the China Club thanks =))