Little Shop of Horrors | Whitley Bay Musical Theatre Company
Whitley Bay Playhouse | 23rd October 2025
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
Little Shop of Horrors is a show very close to my heart. I have performed in it twice; I have directed it and I have musically directed it. I probably know all the words so I was delighted to be invited along to see it by Whitley Bay Musical Theatre Company by the sea at the lovely Whitley Bay Playhouse this evening.
Community theatre does not often do pre-show entertainment but Whitley Bay MTC has bucked the trend and the audience were greeted and entertained by a solo trombonist busker along with some rum Skid Row inhabitants hocking their wares as they took to their seats. This was an interesting addition and set the scene perfectly.
This musical is the complete package. Written by the late Howard Ashman and with music by Disney stalwart Alan Menken, Little Shop of Horrors pays homage to a number of genres and is a delight from beginning to end – even if the story line is a little gory and, if the truth be known, no-one gets out alive apart from the foliage. That said, it is a blooming good romp that I have seen more times than I care to admit to.
We join the action in Mr Mushnik’s (Stu Liddle) impoverished florist’s shop where he is barely scraping by with two employees, the hapless and accident prone Seymour Krelborn (Matthew McGuire) and dreamer assistant Audrey (Sarah McKinnell.) Mushnik is just about ready to jack it all in and close his customer forsaken shop when Seymour produces a strange and interesting plant which he has called Audrey II. The fortunes of the shop instantly turn around but it is not without significant cost as the story continues.
There are several things that set this production of the well-loved musical apart from others I have seen. First there are some magnificent performances. McGuire is quite adorable as the goofy but loveable Seymour. McKinnell sings her heart out as the abused-by-her-boyfriend Audrey and Liddle puts in a comedic master class as Mushnik. His interaction with everyone is a delight to watch and I can tell that all three of them are thoroughly enjoying their time on stage.
The next wow factor comes from the choreography (Sophie Clarke) who has clearly put the entire company through their paces to produce some of the best showstopping numbers I have seen in an amateur production recently. ‘Skid Row’ is quite outstanding and really brings out the desperation of the denizens of this run down and largely forgotten suburb of New York.
The direction (Carl Luke-Flanders) is innovative and clever while preserving the integrity of the source material. He has clearly thought about the story and studied previous professional productions to bring his own interpretation which skips along a quite a pace and leaves the audience wanting more. His use of his cast is to be commended and he draws from an abundance of talent to bring this story to life – or perhaps death as the case may be – and this has to be one of the most imaginative versions of this show I’ve ever seen produced in community theatre. Occasionally, there is a little too much going on which distracts from the main action particularly in some of the more emotional moments where less is, perhaps more.
Little Shop of Horrors would be as nothing without a magnificent plant and this is provided by puppeteer Nicola Shenton and personified quite magnificently by Luke McGarey in glorious drag. This is an inspired piece of casting and direction and works incredibly well. The fact that McGarey takes over the upper levels on the stage in, effective Audrey II’s own personal nightspot is a wonderful touch.
We also need someone to boo at (nobody would be brave enough to boo at Audrey II) and that is provided by the sadistic boyfriend of the OG Audrey, Orin Skrivello DDS (Gary Roe) who, for this evening’s performance also followed tradition and covered the roles of Mr Bernstein, Mrs Luce and Skip Snip this evening. Roe commanded the stage as the dastardly doctor who gets his just desserts as the story continues.
Observing all the action and acting as MCs at the start are the three stoop dwelling urchins Crystal (Emma Bronilow), Ronette (Sophie Begg) and Chiffon (Nicola Hewett) who moved, sang and acted their way magnificently throughout the whole show.
Andrew Clarence led the talented band including Andrew Soulsby, Richard Sutton, Peter Ross and Sophie Purvis who together produced a magnificent soundtrack to the action.
Quite often this show is chosen because of the minimal cast size. Luke-Flanders clearly thought differently and employs two sets of dancers to fill out the ensemble and stage. He also uses height very effectively with a dream like ballet to accompany ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ and a cleverly worked sequence to accompany Seymour’s story about how he came by his strange and interesting plant. These were both innovative and very effective.
Little Shop of Horrors by Whitley Bay MTC at Whitley Bay Playhouse is a thoroughly absorbing, unashamedly camp, enjoyable and clever production and it runs until Saturday. Please get your tickets now before it is too late and, for the love of all that is good and holy – don’t feed the flipping plants!