Clandestine
Arts in conjunction with the Bay Street Players presents the hilariously
kooky musical favorite, “Little Shop of Horrors” as part of the State
Theatre Studio Series. Derek Critzer produced and directed the show while also taking the lead role. This was a herculean task and he pulled it off. Pam Schwartz and I rushed up to The Historic State Theater (109 N Bay St, Eustis, Florida 32726) after I had taught my weekend Urban Sketching class. We negotiated our way into seats in the very back row feeling our way in the dark. We had missed some of the first act, but I was intent on getting a sketch. The soundtrack to the musical Little Shop of Horrors with music by Howard Ashman and lyrics by Alan Mencken got me through some rough times as I struggled to survive as an artist in NYC. I always felt I was trying to escape from skid row. As an artist you are always trying to make magic happen on a shoe-string budget.
When we arrived Audrey (Savannah Pedersen) was on a date with Orin Scrivello the dentist (Robb Ross). His maniacal laughing was unnerving and abrasive. As he suffocated in his laughing gas helmet I felt claustrophobic for him. Could he get enough air in that fish bowl of a helmet? Seymour Krelborn (Derek Critzer) who raised the mysterious plant gets the girl but needs to feed the plants insatiable appetite for blood in his hope to keep her. The meek, plant shop apprentice is thrown into the public eye.
The voice of the plant (Eduardo Rivera) was silky and enticing. One trumpet player in the live orchestra kept blatting out his notes and some voices in the cast seemed worn. In some ways this was fitting for the urban grunge aesthetic, but the 3 woman chorus (Camila Camilo, Nyeshia Smith, and Felichia Chivaughn Wright) was on point doing a stellar job.
Overall this was a fun day of theater, well worth the drive.
Remaining show dates are today and tomorrow,
Tickets are $21
Saturday April 14, 2018
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Sunday April 15, 2018
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Phone: (352) 357-7777
Email: boxoffice@baystreetplayers.org
Website: http://www.baystreetplayers.org