Pike Road: "Little Shop of Horrors"

A cult classic comedy horror musical for a few decades, Little Shop of Horrors is currently showing at the Pike Road Theatre Company in a spirited [yet over-amplified] production directed by James Keith Posey. 

After a total eclipse of the sun, alien life in the guise of a voracious blood-thirsty talking plant devours Skid Row in 1960s New York. . .so be forewarned: "Don't feed the plants"!

Everyone wants to get out of the derelict Skid Row: a Motown trio of "Street urchins" -- Chiffon [Kierston S.Lewis], Crystal [Tiffany Presley], and Ronnette [Ashley Nicole Portis] -- narrate and serve as a kind of Greek Chorus to the goings-on; grumpy Mr. Mushnik [Jon Darby] isn't making any money at his flower shop; his shop assistants -- nerdy naive orphaned Seymour [Andrew Clem], and dreamer Audrey [Ash Shanks] -- are stuck with no place to go; plus, Audrey is being abused by her sadistic biker dentist boyfriend Orin [Brandtley McDonald].

So, when Seymour nourishes a strange new plant with his own blood, the plant thrives, and business improves. But can the plant that the unlikely hero Seymour names Audrey II be stopped from taking over the planet? Quite a bit to digest.

Based on a 1960 film, the Howard Ashman and Alan Menken musical opened off-Broadway in 1982, and was later made into a popular film in 1986. It's been going strong ever since. 

For all its dark quirkiness, the show invites audiences to root for the underdog in his quest to do the right thing and win the affections of the girl. And it poses some serious questions along the way as it pits innocence against the harsh realities of life: what lengths do people go to for the temporal rewards of celebrity? what and who are we willing to sacrifice to achieve our goals? should our conscience determine the direction to take against the bad guys?

The ensemble cast all have enviable musical talents, and deliver the show's various song styles [ballads, doo-wop, novelty, etc.] effectively. The upbeat energy of the title song sets the tone, and is followed by a Motown "Da-Doo", a  dreamy ballad "Somewhere That's Green", a feed me demand in "Suppertime", and a love duet in "Suddenly Seymour". -- The one regret is that many of the songs' lyrics as well as cleverly ironic dialogue is overpowered by the sound imbalance.

Still, this presentation of Little Shop of Horrors has the added benefit of a well-earned curtain-call for till then unseen Audrey II Puppeteer [Tim Moody] and The Voice of Audrey II [Kumarie Miles], without whom the danger, much of the dark humor, and the visual and aural delights would not exist.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "Urinetown"

Don't let its title put you off: Urinetown [an award winning satirical musical from 2001 on Broadway] is a hugely entertaining, provocative, and timely show that opened to thunderous applause at the Cloverdale Playhouse on Thursday night.

Featuring a multi-talented ensemble acting company [check]; a cringeworthy gritty set by Mike Winkelman [check]; brilliantly distressed costumes by Susanne Booth [check]; exceptional choreography by Daniel Grant Harms who surpasses himself this time [check]; spot-on musical direction by Rachel Pickering [check]; and flawless direction by an exceptional Adrian Lee Bush [check]; this production enters the pantheon of the Playhouse's many triumphs.

Perhaps it's too easy a comparison to a 2026 America, but imagine if you will a place where greedy corporate bosses cooperate with corrupt malevolent politicians to profit from underhanded manipulation of the environment and water supply so that ordinary citizens can't afford their basic necessities, and human life is expendable to those who are hell-bent on financial gain. -- The characters have been waiting twenty years for promises to be fulfilled [sound familiar?], and are currently made to pay to use public Amenities [toilets] since private ones are outlawed.

Of course, there's a love story too, as a revolutionary Bobby Strong [David Rowland] falls for Hope Cladwell [Taylor Finch], who is the daughter of the venal magnate Caldwell B. Cladwell [Tony Davison].

Narrated by Officer Lockstock [Scott Page], who reminds us that Urinetown the Musical is not the same as Urinetown the Place, which may be just a "metaphysical" representation of what's going on on-stage, and who cautions us that the events that impact the characters might reflect the world we live in.

Satire's impact depends on an audience's ability to recognize their own flaws, and to laugh at the absurdities presented to them. -- And Urinetown has plenty of ammunition to conscript an audience, make them feel uncomfortable, and yet acknowledge that no one is completely innocent.

There's plenty to entertain us here too: individual and ensemble performances are nuanced to heighten our approval; dance numbers show a masterful discipline and a respect for the limitations of a limited space; the musical score and impressive singing give nods to such musical theatre standards as West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, and Les Miserables; the linguistic wordplay is instantly hilarious; character names are comically descriptive [Penelope Pennywise, Officers Lockstock and Barrel, for example];  even the Ghost of Hamlet's father's "Remember me" refrain gets its due.

As our mid-term election cycle ramps up, Urinetown reminds us that "we must correct injustice" and "the time is always now" to do so.

ASF: "The Play That Goes Wrong"

Buckle-up, Montgomery! -- A raucous laugh-a-minute farce launched the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's 2026-2027 Season on Friday night to a large responsive crowd. -- The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields has been performed in theatres worldwide since its London debut in 2012, and ASF director Quin Gresham's detailed iteration demonstrates both the play's infectious charm and it's ability to provide an antidote to the cares of the world around us.

It's all in the title: a well-intentioned yet mediocre English theatre company is producing The Murder at Haversham Manor [a whodunnit in the manner of Agatha Christie], but they are so understaffed and underrehearsed, that just about anything that could go wrong actually does. Even before the curtain rises, we see the company making last-minute repairs to the set, and hear an apologetic curtain speech that begs us to be kind to their efforts.

So, it's pretty much an extended one joke show that we watch disintegrate before our eyes. Never mind. No details or spoilers are required. The mad-cap energy and the multiple surprises in the plot are enough. A lot will go wrong.  Just let yourselves follow the unpredictable silliness and laugh till your cheeks hurt. 

All the conventions of an old fashioned murder mystery are there, but complications increase as actors mess up their lines and invent dialogue on the spot while props, costumes, and set pieces fall apart. Yet, "the show must go on".

The skills it takes to pull this off are admirable, with rigorous demands and mutual trust of the entire company both on stage and off: the acting ensemble are as adept at slapstick as they are at comic timing [they make it look easy, even the dangerous parts]; the set design and it's numerous working or not-working parts sustains a lot of abusive treatment; the lighting and sound scores are spot on; and the wizardry of the Stage Management team and running crew deserve the applause they receive at the curtain call.

Thanks to ASF for an excellent start to the Season.

Theatre AUM: "The Mercy Project"

Here's Theatre AUM yet again pursuing "educational theatre" at its core by showcasing an important little-known American female pioneer: a Colonial-Revolution Era poet, playwright, satirist, historian, epistolographer, and political activist named Mercy Otis Warren [1728-1814]. 

Director Val Winkelman has curated and devised several of Warren's works into what she has titled The Mercy Project, mixed them with period songs and dances, and engaged her cohort of nine actors and four musicians to show the remarkable breadth of Warren's output, and to allow them to resonate across the centuries with her concerns about tyranny and liberty, the role of women in public life, and a necessary balance between the rights of all people and the dignity of government. 

Performed in stunning period costumes and largely in a presentational declamatory style, the veteran and neophyte actors give life to Warren's words and ideas, and conscript audiences to find their own connections to them; all in less than an hour's stage time.

Some biographical details are scattered throughout the production: she had little formal education, but learned side-by-side with her brothers who were tutored at home; she was admired by such notables as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; she was a leading promoter of opposition to British rule [her brother once said that "Taxation without representation is tyranny"]; in 1805, she authored the first History of the American Revolution; her home became a hub of revolutionary activism.

Perhaps it's time to investigate Warren's output and encourage productions of her plays. -- Perhaps it's also time in our current political climate to take her advice to become better informed on real issues, to demand honesty and accountability from our elected representatives, and to restore the ideals that will allow us to truly celebrate our 250th Anniversary.