Little Shop of Horrors, a musical that focuses on dramatic comedy and combines horror elements, has come to MSJC’s Menifee campus. Tickets are only $11 and the production is running for two weeks only, from Oct. 16th to Oct. 26th. You can buy tickets ahead of time or at the door.

The play is fun and witty, with a cast of incredible student actors; the opening day crowd was entertained the entire time. 

The main characters and cast included Seymour (Juan Vasquez), Audrey (Tabitha Lane), Orin (Adrian Rios), and Mr. Mushnik (Leo Zoller), and they were all incredible and eye-catching. 

Lane’s Audrey captured the audience with her incredible singing voice, but also her witty one-liners and fun demeanor. Lane was able to balance comedy and realism while playing a character with a dark past in an abusive relationship.  

It was impossible not to love Vasquez’s Seymour, the main character of Little Shop of Horrors. The awkward orphan, Seymour, works in a florist shop and ends up growing an alien plant who feeds on humans and grants Seymour anything he wants in return. Vasquez embodied Seymour with his singing talent, mannerisms, and stage presence. Not a single audience member left without knowing his name and face.

Rios played the more sadistic villain, Orin, who is Audrey’s abusive dentist boyfriend; he was somehow able to keep the story light and fun while remaining incredibly horrifying. Rios stunned audiences and left everyone either a little in love with his comedy or terrified of ever sitting in a dentist’s chair again.

Zoller, as Mr. Mushnik, was a more comedic relief during the show; he is the owner of the flower shop and becomes like an adopted father to Seymour. Zoller perfected the art of comedic timing with this character, and he kept the audience entertained and laughing while he was on stage.

A wonderful shoutout to the women who played secondary leads as Crystal, Ronnette, Shirelle, Marvelette, and Chiffon. These ladies were on stage just as much as the leads and stole the show every time they showed up. Playing street urchins in a group ensemble, they created a scenic background and added character contrast to this wonderful world. Anabelle Lukens (Crystal), Elizabeth Javier (Ronnette), Maya Castaneda (Shirelle), Natalie Reichold (Marvelette), Nyla Knight (Chiffon), stunned in multiple beautiful costumes crafted by Dan Terlouw, Devon Young, Sabrina Reeves, and Kristina Jackson.

On stage and off stage, you could feel the chemistry between cast members. They felt like a family who’d come together to have a great time. You can feel the joy and excitement that everyone involved in this production felt from the audience seats. Cast members even mentioned having wonderful times backstage dancing along to songs with each other. 

“This was truly a labor of love,” said director Leopold Murphy. Director Murphy talked to me about the nine-foot plant prop they created for Audrey 2, the man-eating plant. It had mechanics inside for someone to control, and even people lying beside it acting as the vines came to life; it was stunning to see and experience. 

The horror comedy genre brings its own challenges. Still, luckily, most of this cast had previous experience in this genre, like Lane as Audrey, who did a production of Sweeney Todd, and Elijah Harris as Patrick Martin, who also played in Little Shop of Horrors in high school. Others, like Adrian Rios, who played Orin, were excited to break out of their usual typecast of characters. 

“I think a lot of the show is based on realness and even though it is a horror and a comedy a lot of the comedy comes from being real and believing in yourself and in the lines you’re saying,” said Vasquez. 

The cast agreed that every song in the production was incredible but cast favorites included ‘Feed me’ ‘Dentist’ ‘Now (it’s just the gas)’ and ‘Skid Row.’  Harris, spoke about the tonal shift going from ‘Mushnik and Son’ being such a happy and fun song and immediately into darker tones with songs like ‘feed me’. “That tonal shift is so important for theater, and I feel like those two songs were the most important in terms of setting the stage,” said Harris. 

Lane was deemed the ultimate Disney princess by the cast; her beautiful voice was captivating every time she sang. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see her star on Broadway someday soon. 

The songs in this musical carried so much weight to the story, but it also consisted heavily of acting.
“I don’t usually like musicals, but in this one, the acting portion is so heavy, and even during the songs, the acting portion and the choreography are all acting for me, and this one just felt more like a play than a musical to me,” said Leo Zoller.

If you need a good time and a good laugh or even a good scare, this Halloween season, go see Little Shop of Horrors on the Menifee MSJC campus. If you can’t make it to this production, be sure to keep an eye on the performing arts page on the MSJC website (Performing Arts) to see what is coming next. With so much talent in the School of Performing Arts, each showcase is bound to be incredible.

Cast includes:

Adrian Rios (Orin Scrivello)

Anabelle Lukens (Crystal)

Dan Terkouw (Narrator/Skip Snip)

Edward Brown (voice of Audrey 2)

Elijah Harris (Patrick Martin)

Elizabeth Javier (Ronnette)

Jack Bench (DJ/Bernstein)

Jonathan Bynum (Customer)

Juan Vasquez (Seymour Krelborn)

Leo Zoller (Mr. Mushnik)

Maya Castaneda (Shirelle)

Micah Sanders (Wino #2)

Natalie Reichold (Marvelette)

Nyla Knight (Chiffon)

Quin Keplinger (Audrey 2 Puppeteer Pod 3&4)

Tabitha Lane (Audrey)