Little Shop of Horrors

A few months back, it was asserted in the pages of this magazine that Ten Thousand Things has great taste in literature. We stand by that assessment—even now, as the company readies a production of an American musical that to some would appear gauche. The Little Shop story line is about as absurd as it gets. (It is, after all, a spoof of a ’60s B-movie.) But the cult musical boasts an irresistible bebop score as well as a lovable cast of characters. In the hands of Ten Thousand Things artistic director Michelle Hensley, these elements get stripped down to expose their underlying darkness. What’s more, a fine group of local character actors inject nuance into what is normally a big-voiced, Broadway-style production. Writer, actor, improviser, and all-around funny-man Jim Lichtscheidl plays geeky Seymour. Kate Eifrig, fresh off her run as Janis Joplin in Love, Janis, plays Audrey. One of the Twin Towns’ preeminent physical comics, Luverne Seifert, appears as the evil Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. Hensley has a surprise in store for the character of Audrey II, the blood-feeding plant; she isn’t giving any specifics, but teases: “It’ll be very different; it won’t be the traditional Audrey” (i.e., no giant, molded-foam puppet growling “Feed me, Seymour.”). 612-203-9502; www.tenthousandthings.org