The little horror shop, as scary as it is captivating

Forty years after its debut, in 1982 – it was about to turn 60 after the premiere of Roger Corman’s film that originated it, in 2020, but the pandemic delayed everything-, the horror shop returns to Corrientes Avenue and looks as terrifying and captivating as when he took the stage of the Broadway theater in 2001.

Of course, the cast has changed, the staging, but the grace, the plot and above all Audrey II, the carnivorous plant that came from space and which, in the flower shop of Mr. Mushnik (Juan Denari), is the backbone of the film , musical comedy is maintained.

Or should we say the main thing is Seymour (Faith Couts, seen this year in Tic, Tick … Boom!) and Audrey (Luli Chouhy), the employees of the flower shop?

Howard Ashman wrote the screenplay based on Roger Corman’s film in which he is little known Jack Nicholson played Orin, Audrey’s abusive boyfriend. Hashman called Alan Menken to write the music for the songs, and such was the success of the musical for subsequent creators of the soundtrack of The little Mermaid Y Aladdinthat in 1986 Frank Oz directed the remake, with Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and Steve Martin like Orin.

With everything to be successful

And when a musical has a good script and songs that are a focus, half the work is ready for fun. Fortunately, the remaining 50% to see that the glass is full and not empty, that the staging, the actors and the musicians on stage respect perfectly.

Luck of Splendor modern (or speaking of musical, of The Phantom of the Operaor A ghost in heaven, which would become more or less the same), the shy and introverted Seymour is the one who introduces the seedling into Mr. Mushnik’s run-down business in Skid Row. They didn’t sell anything, until he put Audrey II (yes, in honor of his colleague, whom he isn’t so secretly in love with) in the window.

Success is instant: people enter the flower shop like never before, attracted for some reason to that plant, and the business thrives. But as Audrey II grows, her need to feed on … human blood also grows. And when Seymour’s fingertips are dead and covered in band-aids, well, she thinks of something more luscious.

Director Axel Jeannot (Vox Pop) maintains the structure of the horror shopwith the three girls of the choir (Paula Chouhy, Juana Silveyra, Belén Bilbao) who are like a Greek choir that will narrate and participate in the story, if it does not provide aspects of the main characters.

We said that the songs are unbeatable, and they are there The little shop of horrors, Skid Row (center), Suddenly, Seymour Y Somewhere that is greennot to mention the one played by Orin (Mike Chouhy) who, for those of you who haven’t seen any movies or musicals, will keep his profession quiet.

Everyone, absolutely all the performers, the 7 already mentioned plus the responsible for the movements of Audrey II and the live band make a party out of what you live in the Astral only on Tuesdays. It is true that the first act is more attractive than the second, but it was like that in the original.

And beware that, for now, there are only five functions left of the six originally planned.

“The little shop of horror”

Very good

Musical comedy. Author: Howard Ashman. Music and lyrics: Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. General address: Alex Jeannot. With: Faith Couts, Luli Chouhy, Juan Denari, Mike Chouhy. Stay: Astral, Tuesday at 8.30pm Tickets: $ 3,000 and $ 3,500.