Little Shop of Horrors - Shine Studios

On a cool June night I was not looking forward to leaving the house, But this is one of my all time favourite musicals! The leads in the show that I attended last night were Bri Williams, Emmet Nichols, Ben Bull and Cameron Lynch. Congratulations all I found your characters were well executed, accents great and songs were sung well. Over all I found the show to be most enjoying. However the audio did bring the quality of the show down. I know the show and the lines well so I didn't realise how bad the audio was until a friend who I attended the show with(who had never seen it before) told me at intermission that he coudn't make out most of the words during the songs. Crystal/Chiffon/Ronette could not be heard clearly throughout most of the show. The band sounded good and were not loud by any means, but the level of the microphones that the performers had did not match them and at times became muffled and distorted their voices. Chris Messina (who played the voice of Audrey II) on the otherhand sounded fantastic vocally and by volume! He obviously had the advantage of being backstage and on a handheld mic. Although the chorus were enthusiastic I found their presence on stage at times distracting, from the point that the stage was full of performers during chorus numbers but only a few of them were singing. Skid Row was a good example of this. A lot was happening, but not much could be heard (I'm sure this was partially down to mics as well) I have mixed opinions on the lighting for the show. The use of the lighting on the sets and props were great but at times the performers weren't lit at all during their songs. My only other negative feedback of the show was the Choreography. I believe a show like this requires very minimal choreography, purely because many of the songs require choreographed movement rather then dancing. So the dancing looked out of place in many of songs and had a "tacked on" appearance. Congratulations must go to Iskandar Sharazuddin (and extras) for the puppeteering skills of Audrey II. Not an easy task to be animated through means of a mouth of a venus flytrap, but you did! with Gusto! The sets for this production were inventive, creative and well constructed. The series of Audrey II's were amazing as was the make-shift dentist chair! I think the direction of Kirsty Messina complimented the performers and the sets extremely well! Had I had more time I would have liked to watch the performace again with the other leads to see what they did with their characters, but sadly I can't. Shine Studios have created a lively and fun performance of this show. Congratulations team and all the best for your remaining 4 performances!

Well, I was lucky enough to catch the closing performance of this charming little show last night and I couldn't let it go without saying a few words of congratulations to the cast and crew. My regret here is that the show has now closed, so if you didn't get to see it, it's too late :( My details re: who did what will be purely character/role based, as I left my program at home. I'm pretty sure I saw the same cast as Manuao though :) Okay, so the first part of this show that I experienced was the clever, innovative style of the program design - I felt presenting the material as a case file was simply ingenious and really set me up for the night. And then I walked into the Nexus Theatre and my jaw almost hit the floor. I've worked in the Nexus umpteen times throughout my 12 years at Murdoch and I can categorically say that Shine Studios utilised every inch of that space to create a believable and very atmospheric Skid Row. The mulit-level, revolving, highly detailed set was aesthetically interesting, dynamic and show-appropriate. By far the most effective use of the space at Nexus I have seen to date - bravo to the design team! The performances as a whole were quite strong. Special mention must go to Bri Williams and Emmet Nicholls as Audrey and Seymour. Bri brought a fresh, ditzy, almost manic energy to Audrey and Emmet was nothing short of totally lovable as the down-trodden plant enthusiast. Their voices had a lovely quality and blended well during moments of duet. There were a couple times when I thought either of them may have let their support drop and might not quite hit a note - but their true professionalism carried them through, well done. Crystal, Chifon and Ronnette had great characterisation and energy (thank you to the director for ensuring these characters were presented as the school aged children they are) and individually their voices were absolutely stunning - what instruments! I did feel that the balance when the trio sang together wasn't quite right though; I can't commend the girls enough for their talent, but more time needed to be spent on finding the right harmonic balance and blend amongst the three voices. To the rest of the cast I say simply - a wonderful, committed performance that drew me into your world - congratulations :) Now to 'the plant' - Oh! My! God! I am so impressed - most productions of this show that I have seen have not gone for that final step with the plant and it really did pay off. Audrey II's sheer immensity left my with the open mouth of a "wow". Kudos to the operator, you did extremely well as one man operating a HUGE puppet. The synch up with the dialogue from the voice artist was great. I also have to mention the hand puppet sized Audrey II that Seymour carried around as well. It left me stupmed for a few seconds as to how you had that puppet going when Seymour seemed to be holding the pot with both arms. I got there eventually, but this was really well done, congratulations. I felt the set was extremely well incorporated into the deirection of the piece. The revolve had a lovely organic feel about it, and although its movements seemed a little clunky (and I did see the odd hand here and there) it almost took on a character of its own. Finding out later that there was only one mechanist to operate it helped me to forgive those visible hands as well. I liked the multiple entry points onto set, but I did feel the balcony was underused. There are very few theatres in Perth with a balcony like the Nexus has, and the set design incorporated the full U-Bend, but I only had to look up a few times. Not a criticism per se - more of an "If I had done it..." kind of comment. Truly special points of direction: - the first dentist's chair - I didn't see it coming and it worked so well! - the bum under the newspaper - I figured there might be someone hiding there but still laughed when he joined in the song :) - the people getting dragged around by tentacles/vines in the opening sequence - I hadn't seen something like that done before and it really set the tone for me that this was not a happy story; fun and energetic, but not "happy" I have to agree with Manuao in regards to the audio. I'm not sure what brand the lapel mics were, but the distortion was very apparent and a little offputting (both to the audience and, I believe, the singers). One thing I did notice is that the pick up on most of the mics was set blow the performers' mouths and this limited the amount of the voice that was able to be amplified - try for having the pick up set in front of or just slightly above the mouth, you'll get more out of your mics that way. I thought the lighting design was very strong and worked well with the set, but the cues seemed to be a little late a lot of the time. Either that, or the actors were moving too soon, as on a number of occasions a performer would move and then be in darkness for a moment or two before the lighting state changed. In regards to choreography - I felt the routines themselves were well executed and clean, but in some cases I did feel that the choreography wasn't quite right for the song. This wasn't the case with all the routines - in particular "Ya Never Know" was very effective and tied into the whole production very well as did "The Meek Shall Inherit". I do agree that this show probably requires more in the way of characterised movement rather than full dance routines though. In closing, I would just like to congratulate Shine Studios on a very entertaining and well crafted production. I look forward to your next offering. DazzaB "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Scott Adams

Gee Im disappointed, where is devils advocate now. Interesting that the Joe Egg review thread doesnt get a visit from him, probably because he is most likely in the cast.

Is everyone serious? I saw this the other night and it was amateur AT BEST. The performances were generally alright (if not very amateur) but the direction, choreography, lighting and sound? Nothing to write home about. Another substandard carbon copy of the film that's all this was. But I guess this just demonstrates what Perth audiences do best, and that's celebrate mediocrity.

Gee "Huh?!" you're being a little harsh I think. The stage, set and choreography were far superior to that of normal amateur theatre in Perth. HOWEVER I went to see the show twice (for different casts) and I can semi-understand where you are coming from depending on the cast you saw. (Apologies to the actors but I don't know your names and after spending $28 per show - I really didn't want to spend an extra $7 on a program) The first night I went there was a shorter female playing Audrey and a taller male playing Seymour. I felt these two leads were very much mis-casted. In terms of appearance the male actor looked more like that Arrows Computer guy than anyone from Skidrow, let alone Seymour. And the actress who played Audrey was so over-exaggerated that I felt it was very amateur. There was very little realism to the character and although it made it slightly more humourous at times, it really made me feel it was just another amateur theatre show with overacting actors and actresses who just couldn't wait to show everything they have on stage - not something ALL characters require. The singing was ok. Both actor/actress CAN sing, but not in character. In "Suddenly Seymour" I could barely hear the male, but the female was belting it out like Aretha Franklin and had a slightly deeper tone than what I thought Audrey would. However, kudos as it is a hard song. The second night I went, there were new leads - this time a taller Audrey and a shorter Seymour. After watching that show I was truly taken away and changed my opinion about the "amateur-ness" of the show. I found these two leads brought a lot more realism to their characters and even looked the part. I felt teary in the scene where Audrey died that night (as opposed to the previous night where I was just slightly relieved). There were times when I couldn't hear this Audrey too well, but the fact that she pulled off the innocence so well made the sound issue forgivable. These two also pulled off "Suddenly Seymour" marvelously. Instead of cringing I could actually feel these characters. They made you believe they were in love. Kudos! In terms of the other leads and casts, I felt they were very good on both nights. The dentist was the same actor on both nights and I thought he was marvelous. Apart from the giant plant, he was definitely the most entertaining element of the show. On both nights I went he portrayed his character flawlessly (and almost EXACTLY the same) and the audience and myself could not help but sit stunned and amazed at his gas-mask scene. I think on the second night the same actor also played the bum who also created a few laughs. The urchins were fantastic. They stood out when they were supposed to and laid low appropriately (kudos to Director and choreographer). The dancers were all very professional and whilst I do agree - this show doesn't really require that much dancing - it didn't take away from my experience of the show at all. As for the plant and plant voice - WOW WOW WOW! That in itself is worth the $28. I don't know the mechanics of it or care to know, but it is definitely not something you would find in a normal amateur theatre show. It practically came alive! Overall, great production, great choreo and great direction. Slightly mis-casted but from what I saw, that really only applies to 2 characters, which they made up for by having the other cast. A fair notch above amateur I'd say.

While the choreography was well rehearsed and known, I thought the execution was lacking in technique and energy. I found the choreography felt a little "dance school concert" at times and could have done without the awkward jetes and layouts. Other than that, an enjoyable show. Special mentions to the delightful Brianna Williams and the goofy loveable Emmet Nicholls. Well done to all involved!

I think I saw the first cast mentioned by 'Reviup' as I did not purchase an overpriced $7 program and I tell you, I could not believe I had paid $28 for this production. Sure the set was great as was the plant but for an amatuer company to charge that much I expected something of a much higher quality. Very average production not worth anywhere near the asking price. Will not be attending another production by shine studios if they think they can deliver so little and ask almost 30 dollars for it.