Random Musings

Just watched “Little Shop of Horrors” (starring the Dim Sum Dollies) at the Victoria Theatre earlier tonight.

Hadn’t watched the movie before, so the songs and the plot were all rather new to me.

The book and lyrics are by Howard Ashman, and the music is by Alan Menken (one of my favourite composers).

Some of you might know that Ashman and Menken are the creative geniuses behind works such as Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, and “Aladdin”…three scores which I simply adore.

Our local version is directed by Glen Goei, produced by Tan Kheng Hua (spotted her at the theatre with her daughter), and stars, among others, Hossan Leong as the lead character Seymour.

Interestingly, Dave Tan from the local band Electrico not only makes a short appearance on stage, he is also primarily the voice of “Audrey II” (the name of the plant).

Other familiar faces include Lim Yu Beng and Robin Goh.

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It has to be noted that the Dim Sum Dollies are not the protagonists in the musical.

Their roles in the musical are more supplementary than anything else, providing good comic relief at various points in the show. 

This is despite the fact that the marketing campaign for “Little Shop of Horrors” seems to suggest that the girls are headlining the show.

(Note that it’s the 3 girls on the poster, and not Hossan Leong or Denise Tan.)

I suspect that this could be clever marketing at work…leveraging on the popularity of the DSDs to sell tickets.

Seriously, if they had placed Hossan Leong and/or Denise Tan on the poster, I don’t think they would have sold as many tickets.

(This reminds me of how they heavily promoted Karen Mok, acting as Mimi, for the musical “Rent” at the Kallang Theatre last year.)

I’m tempted to talk about how we S’poreans tend to go more for the ”star power” rather than the actual artistic content in the musicals…but I guess I’ll pass on that for now.

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On to the show proper.

I thought the overall production was slick.

The puppeteering of Audrey II was really well done, thanks to a team of capable puppet specialists.

The special effects were impressive at times.

At one scene, it actually rained on stage (I kid you not!). Go watch it for yourself and see.

The cast was generally strong, both in acting and singing…though I felt the weakest performer was Sean Worrall (playing Mushnik, the flower shop owner).

Hossan Leong put in a credible performance as poor ol’ Seymour who’s always being pushed around in life (somehow I felt this role was perfect for him).

His singing is pretty ok, though not as strong as the others in the cast.

Hossan Leong is a fantastically gifted pianist, by the way (and yes, this statement is totally irrelevant to the topic).

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It’s a pity I feel.

Hossan Leong is a very talented and versatile actor.

He’s done stand-up comedy, he’s done musicals, he’s done TV, etc.

However, in my opinion I think he lacks that little bit of “X-Factor” to carry a show.

Maybe it’s because of his small build, maybe it’s because he’s always acting goofy and we don’t take him seriously enough, maybe it’s because his singing is not particularly strong, or maybe it’s because he doesn’t have the “leading man” kind of looks.

I’m not sure.

But to me, he just doesn’t possess the “X-Factor” to lead a show.

Maybe you could say he’s like Kramer from Seinfeld…really funny guy, goofy at times, provides great comic relief, but you wouldn’t really imagine him headlining a show.

Anyway…

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Denise Tan, who plays Seymour’s love interest Audrey, put in a credible performance.

I’ve never seen her on stage before, but I feel she has a good singing voice.

Lim Yu Beng was great, playing the part of the abusive, bad-boy dentist boyfriend of Audrey.

And of course, the DSDs were at their usual brilliant best.

Lots of great comic acting and funny lines.

(They’re really, really good. Worth the price of admission, I tell you.)

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The music wasn’t extremely memorable, although a couple of songs did stand out, namely the “Little Shop of Horrors Theme Song” and “Suddenly Seymour”. “Somewhere That’s Green” wasn’t too bad either.

Plot-wise, I felt the musical was rather dark and sinister…betraying the seemingly sweet and innocent facade of the sets.

I was rather uncomfortable with the way everything ended.

It was more like a tragedy.

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Selena Tan announced at the end of the show that they’re extending the production by 4 more shows.

Go watch it!

P.S. Couldn’t help but notice that Lorong Skid Row sounds exactly like the 80’s rock band Skid Row. But then I did a search and found out on Wikipedia that the term “skid row” is used to describe a rundown or dilapidated urban area. Thanks Wiki!