Alright, alright, I'll admit... the title is a bit of a cheap shot. I was trying to think of something witty and came up with that. In actuality though, it wasn't all that sleep inducing, really! Though it did cut into my usual afternoon nap time...
Just came back from a 2:30pm Sunday performance of Little Shop of Horrors at the Highlands Lakeside Theater here in my good ol' retirement town of Sebring. Good God you know I'm old. And the audience was chock full of others like me.
New director... again! Didn't we just get a new director just a year or so ago? Man, this little community goes through 'em. Anyway, now it's Margaret Macbeth alone though I do think she was serving as co-director at one point or another, I'm not sure. Her whole fam is part of this theater group so It's no surprise. This is supposedly her first show as it's now the 2027 season. Man time flies. Well, I guess she did okay.
I'd read somewhere that some high school production somewhere (in Bible Belt America, of course) got flak for casting a girl in the lead role, thus having a love interest between two women... oh Lordy! But in our case, Corey Adams was the lead playing Seymore. Corey is a dude, but, he is a Black dude and Audrey is played by a white chick... and we are in the South. Well, I didn't hear any groans in the audience so I guess that's a good sign. Inter-racial isn't nearly as "bad" to the MAGA folk as same sex, of course. Corey, as I've posted about before, is a fav here at HLT. I freakin' love him and he did a fine job in this role... but...
Oh you know there was a "but" in there...
The songs were not the best fit for him. My man Corey did well with his singing chops in Wizard of Oz and Sweeney Todd, that I can remember right off the top of my head, but, if you ask me, just like his portrayal in this show, he absolutely shines when it comes to his acting! He can give his all, especially anything with a lot of physicality. A few years back, when he was a tad younger (and thinner perhaps) he WAS the Scarecrow! And as Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, he flung his hands up in defeat to Sweeney's shaving skills as he lost that challenge. He's very physical. And don't think this show didn't have it's share of physicality... he had to dance a jig and then jump onto the back of his "daddy" Mr. Mushnik. Imagine, he has to do this every show. And he's no longer as waifish. Oof! I feel for Erik Cooper, the actor who plays Mushnik... OH VEY!
Mattie Bond's vocals in "Suddenly Seymore" steals the show though. And I think I've mentioned before how difficult it must be, for the performers and the director I would guess, when one member of a duet has so much more talent than their partner. I saw this, again, right off the top of my head as far as memory, back a few years ago in West Side Story done at the Orlando Shakes. Here again, Mattie had the difficult option... does she "hold back" so as not to horribly outweigh the duet or does she "go for it?" Well whether it was her choice, conventional custom in these situations or the director or all the above, she "went for it" and I'm glad she did.
But guess what!? Did the audience recognize her for it? No. They gave her enthusiastic applause at curtain call, but remained seated; they reserved the standing ovation for Corey! Now, perhaps it was for his longevity, or his acting, or his being the lead? Or because these are old folks, he was just now the last player out on stage and the people were happening to get up to make their way out. Who the fuck knows?
And like my fellow oldsters, I too was quickly outta there. It was way too cold in there, too crowded, too many people coughing, and I've had too many health issue around crowds this year. I got more things to worry about tryin' to kill me than blood-thirsty potted plants.