Before we jump into this week’s post, I just found out yesterday that The Muny theater in St. Louis is planning a production of Chess (yes, the show I covered a few weeks back with no cohesive plot but pretty good music about the two chess players during the Cold War) for this July. Sadly, the show opens after this class ends, but I can’t wait to see what they do with the story in terms of making it socially acceptable for the current era.

Moving on to this week’s show, The Muny’s 2023 season also includes a revival of Little Shop of Horrors, which I saw last November off-Broadway. It was the first show I went in to without knowing much about it, and it exceeded my expectations for three reasons: the smaller theater, (mostly) exceptional cast, and mesmerizing set. First, since it was an off-Broadway theater, it was slightly smaller, which added a lot to the experience since I got to be less than 10 feet away from THE Jeremy Jordan. Second, the cast included both Christian Borle (who I knew from Legally Blonde and Falsettos) and Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, Bonnie and Clyde, Waitress). Sadly, the actress playing Audrey didn’t quite fit the role due to her limited vocal range, but now Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Legally Blonde: Search for the Next Elle Woods) has taken over the role, and that casting choice makes a lot more sense in my opinion. Third, I’m a sucker for clever scenic design, and this production has just a few simple set pieces that transform into many different scenes.

Little Shop of Horrors is based on a 1960 film by the same name. It is a horror/comedy rock musical with Motown-inspired music by Alan Menken (who worked on the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Enchanted, Tangled, and more) set in a 1960s skid row. Seymour and Audrey are co-workers at Mr. Mushnik’s flower shop, and while Seymour is secretly in love with Audrey, Audrey is in an abusive relationship with a sadistic dentist. After a sudden eclipse of the sun, Seymour discovers a strange venus fly trap. He takes care of it like a normal plant to no avail. Finally, he realizes that the plant only grows when fed with human blood. Chaos ensues, Seymour kills Audrey’s abusive boyfriend at a dentist appointment and feeds him to the plant, the flower shop becomes famous for having this huge venus fly trap (which Seymour named Audrey II after Audrey), and in the end everyone gets eaten by Audrey II. There are a lot of small details I left out, but for the sake of not spoiling the fun parts, that’s the gist of the show. The horror and comedy surprisingly work together perfectly, such as the silly revelation that Audrey’s boyfriend is a dentist (in the aptly titled song “Dentist!”) followed by his terrifying asphyxiation via nitrous oxide. Somehow, it’s still funny.

Listen to “Grow for Me” (specifically the Jeremy Jordan version) for a fun, dance-worthy number about Seymour discovering the plant eats blood. Listen to “Suddenly Seymour” for a powerful love song with just a few weird lyrics (not bad for the 60s). Listen to “Mushnik & Son” for a tango about the bond of chosen family (sort of). The whole cast recording is good–with no skips and a few really good songs–so I highly suggest it as background music for doing homework.

And whatever you do… “Don’t feed the plants!”

As promised, we’ll be covering a great musical this week to make up for the past few disappointments, so let’s talk about one of the greatest shows of all time: The Phantom of the Opera.

The Phantom of the Opera started as a novel by French author Gaston Leroux in 1909. There have been many adaptations of the story, most notably a 1925 silent film, the 2004 movie starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler, and the musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber first produced in 1986. It is currently the longest running show on Broadway, and there is no question why. Every aspect of the show is cohesive and masterfully done, from the music to the set design and costumes to the plot. It all comes together to create an eerily enchanting spectacle.

This show has a special place in my heart since it was the first musical I ever really enjoyed. I still haven’t seen it live–and now it’s sadly closing on Broadway in a few months–but I’ve seen the 2004 movie several times and watched the pro-shot of the 25th anniversary performance when it was streaming on YouTube in 2020.

It is quite a popular show. I mean, who wouldn’t recognize the powerful opening of the titular song “The Phantom Of The Opera”? Just in case you aren’t familiar with the plot, Christine Daae is a young performer with the Paris Opera who has to fill in when the lead soprano cannot go on for a performance. She absolute kills it (lol…) and attributes her skill to a private mentor ghost (the Phantom), and of course her friend Meg and love interest Raoul don’t believe her. She goes through a mirror and meets the Phantom in his sewers under the opera house where they sing that song everyone knows and he says she will be his voice (as told by my favorite lyric: “I am the mask you wear, it’s me they hear.”) Then, the Phantom starts to wreak havoc on the opera. He possesses the ex-soprano’s voice, hangs a stagehand, and causes the chandelier to crash during a performance. This is all in Act I ONLY. Act II starts with a masquerade ball followed by the unfolding of the jealous Phantom’s plan to perform with Christine (who is now engaged to Raoul) in an opera he wrote and forces the opera the perform. During the performance, Christine realizes it is the Phantom singing with her and takes off his mask in front of the audience, revealing his disfigured face. Chaos ensues, and Phantom takes Christine down to his lair again. In his lair, Raoul comes to save Christine, and Phantom tells her to choose between him and Raoul. She kisses the Phantom and he is so inspired by her graciousness that he lets her go. It makes a lot more sense in context.

My one and only grievance with the show is the fact that in the Broadway production, the Phantom bows last, and Christine bows second to last. I know Phantom is the titular role, but the story revolves around Christine’s journey in the opera, so it makes sense that she should get the final bow, right? I digress.

If you haven’t heard much of the music, I highly suggest… well, every song actually. Genuinely the whole cast recording is amazing. If I had to pick a favorite though, I’d say “All I Ask of You.” Just watch the movie–it’s a lovely gothic horror, perfect for Fall.