CPH's Little Shop of Horrors is delightfully hilarious

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to see Cleveland Playhouse Square’s performance of the well-known musical Little Shop of Horrors. The musical marked my second CPH performance, but my first experience of Little Shop. I think for a musical that seems difficult to get right, this show nailed it.

Little Shop follows young flower shop assistant Seymour in the poor urban district of Skid Row. During a total eclipse of the sun, he finds a new breed of plant, modelled after a Venus Flytrap, which he names Audrey II after his crush who is also employed at the shop. Audrey II grows only after being fed human blood, and throughout the show the gigantic plant gets Seymour to feed it by promising fame and fortune and overall, a way to get Audrey to love him.

The musical featured an onstage band, dubbed the Urchins, with five lovely ladies included in the story as well as the songs. Ari Butler, a performer from several Broadway shows, plays Seymour alongside Eddie Cooper as Audrey II, Lauren Molina as Audrey, and Joey Taranto as Orin.

Coincidentally, I had previously seen Taranto on the Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark musical on Broadway and he performed brilliantly in his role as the sadistic dentist and boyfriend of Audrey. His two songs, “Dentist” and “Now (It’s Just the Gas)”, are my personal favorites in the musical. The live band played fantastic sets, and the actors put on a spectacular show.

Plus, the Playhouse Square atmosphere could not have been better. Once inside it truly felt like you could be walking through a theater and seeing a show on Broadway instead of Cleveland. Everyone was friendly and afterwards you could tell the audience had really enjoyed the show.

The Cleveland theater district is definitely a great improvement to the city, and I’m glad they’re starting to showcase it as they should. Little Shop of Horrors is just one example of their long list of plays and musicals available to see, and it definitely lived up to the movie it was based off of.

Although Little Shop’s run at CPH is now over, I would encourage everyone to see their upcoming shows, including The Mountaintop, a tale of Martin Luther King Jr.; The Two Gentlemen of Verona, a Shakespearean comedy; and Luna Gale, a drama following a social worker’s case on baby Luna. Tickets can be purchased online at the CPH website.