 "Photo: Corliss Pauling/Echo staff photographer")
 "Photo: Corliss Pauling/Echo staff photographer")
The University Theatre has set the stage to bring on a singing, man-eating plant from outer space. The production of "Little Shop of Horrors" is set for next month, April 10, 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. and April 11 and 18 at 2 p.m.
For the uninitiated, the musical showcases a extraordinary pair of plants, a doo-wop ensemble and a sadistic singing dentist.
The 1982 Off-Broadway musical is based on a low-budget film shot in two days for just $30,000 in the 1960s by Roger Corman, a renowned director of low-budget camp films.
The play is best known for it's incarnation in a 1986 film with an all-star cast that included Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Rick Moranis.
The action in the play occurs inside a flower shop located in downtown Skid Row.
Seymour, played by Tyrone Gooding, is a dull, nerdy, down-on-his-luck shop assistant, unable to attract customers nor the sandy blonde bomb shell, Audrey, played by Jessica Jones.
Early in the play, Seymore finds a ridiculously odd plant that sports tendrils and has a very peculiar appetite.
He names the plant Audrey II, named after Seymour's fancied flake.
The lively blood thirsty, botanical beast, promises Seymour access to an easy life in exchange for a fresh meal.
The bombastic beet incites a comical stir as it sings for its supper:
"Come on Seymour, don't be a putz, trust me your life will surely rival King Tut's."
The production certifies an unique show of puppeteering as the plant not only sings, but grows and grows and ... well ... grows.
The doo-wop girls, played by Tiffany Agerston, LaDehra Alston and Ariel Griffin, set seamless rhythm for the comical narrative.
Never delayed by the arduous routine of costume changes, their delivery of the hilarious harmony stamps an unforgettable experience.
In rehearsal their performance was on point.
With polka dots and beehive hairdos, their '60s styled vocals add comical dimensions to the original choreography: "They say the meek shall inherit. You know the book doesn't lie. It's a question of merit. It's not demand and supply."
Adding more nonsense to the mock horror, the musical introduces Orin Scrivello, played by Alexander Jackson as a sadistic tooth-pulling technician, who is the wicked beau to the original Audrey.
Scrivello sports a leather jacket and an insatiable desire to bring on the pain to his unwary patients.
The play's director, Irving Truitt, an assistant professor in NCCU's theatre/drama department, said the production will incorporate some original twists on this timeless comedy.
The actors have been finessing the choreography, vocals and blocking for the upcoming performance to be held in the University Theatre inside the Farrison-Newton Communication Building.
"Little Shop" will be added to NCCU's successful season that began with Samm-Art Williams' romantic comedy "The Dance on Widow's Row."
Tickets go on sale today at NCCU's ticket office downstairs in W.G. Pearson Cafeteria. General admission is $15. Student admission is $10.
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