Little Shop of Horrors

Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - Have you ever wished there was a place where you can find the most entertaining events going on in Louisville and find out how good it is before going to it? Well this is the place you have been looking for.

Welcome to the first edition of Gabrielle's Bells. My name is Gabrielle and I will be going to different entertainment events throughout Louisville and rating them based on the experience.
My first event that I attended was Little Shop of Horrors at the Jewish Community Center this past Thursday.

As you can see from the picture of the giant plant, this is a play about horticulture. That might not sound like the most entertaining subject for a play, but this musical is full of twists, turns, and an alien plant that grows right before your eyes.

From the moment you walk into the Jewish Community Center's auditorium one can see a set that gives off a very gritty, dirty street feeling. The lighting is dark, and a small band can be found in front of the stage warming up some of the instruments for the performance.

The play opens with a wonderful singing quartet that acts like a chorus from a Shakespearean play. As the story goes on you are introduced to a wide variety of characters from a shy little shop worker named Seymour to a Skid Row princess Audrey. I certainly can not forget about the most important character of all, Audrey II, which is the alien plant.

Without giving the story away, the plant ends up taking over the plant shop along with Seymour gaining a renewed sense of self and power of people that once pushed him around.

With hilarious songs, to dirty and dark humor brought mainly by the lowlife boyfriend character of Audrey, this play is certainly not for children. But the mixed audience was filled with people ranging from 18 to 70.

Jordan Price, the lowlife dentist and also a plethora of other characters, probably had one of the most difficult roles simply because of all the costume changes he went through.

When asked how he was able to pull off this feat he said, " You don't have time to think. It was difficult with the heels on, not falling on my face. I had a great person backstage helping me with all of the costume changes, " says Price.

Stephen Michaels had this to say about the performance, " it was playful, surprising, well rehearsed... I was pretty enthralled. Overall a great event to go to for entertainment."

I agree. With beverages available, and oozing entertainment, no one in the audience left thirsty.

For hometown entertainment, I had a great time seeing this show. I laughed a lot and really enjoyed the talented vocals of all the performers. The only thing that disappointed me was during a few songs, the microphones were not on or loud enough. I did have some difficulty hearing certain characters singing, which was a shame because everyone was so talented.

For a rating, this play gets a 4/5 bells simply for a few microphone malfunctions and some other technical glitches.

Check out Little Shop of Horrors, at the Jewish Community Center, now through November 13.