Little Shop of Horrors

When I heard that my friend, Justin Willingham, was staring as Seymour in the Harrell Theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors, I had to go. (He assured me that it wouldn't be too scary for the monkeys--although the Harrell Theater discourages children under 3 from attending.)



When I told the monkeys we were going to a play they were genuinely excited. They love going to shows at the Orpheum and have developed a real love of theater. They often ask me "What are we going to see next?"

We went to the 2:30pm Sunday matinee. The monkeys and their cousin sat in the front row and my mom and I sat a few rows back. They loved feeling grown up, and I loved being able to actually have a conversation with my mom!

The show itself was fantastic, and the cast was phenomenal. Really! I'm no theater critic, but I know good. Even my mom--who has seen the show on Broadway--said it was one of the best productions she's seen. The monkeys and their cousin also really enjoyed the show. From the front row they got to be enveloped by the smoke machine and have the actors sing right to them.

Unbeknown to us, they have a special perk on Sundays. After the show, we were invited to meet some of the cast and see how the Audrey plant works. We also learned that the puppeteer has lost 29 pounds since he started operating the plant two weeks ago! I guess he gets a little sweaty in there!



The Harrell Theater is pretty small--it seats 368 people and is in Collierville. It's a bit of a trek for us Midtowners, but totally worth the drive. And just so you know, it's adjacent to a community center so the kids can burn off some energy both before and after the show on the center's playground. Additionally, intermission snacks can be bought there as well.

I highly recommend that you take your kids (ages 6 and up) to the show! We may even go again it was so good. (Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for kids.)