‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Comes to the Solvang Stage

Start your summer entertainment off right, with camp, horror, love, greed, and killer plants! Welcome to Mushnik’s on Skid Row — the flower shop home to the cult-classic musical Little Shop of Horrors, book and music by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. See Little Shop of Horrors, produced by PCPA, under the stars at the Solvang Festival Theater from June 13 to July 7.

Like everything on Skid Row, Mushnik’s has lost its shine. Low-wage employee Seymour is a nobody, cranking away and pining for his coworker Audrey. One day, Seymour buys a wholesale plant for the shop (he names it Audrey II, in honor of his unrequited love) only to discover the plant’s disturbing “big-game” diet. Suckling Seymour’s bleeding finger only keeps Audrey II happy for so long — and things spiral out of control as the plant’s appetite grows.

With doo-wop music and campy, B-movie-style horror elements, PCPA is presenting Little Shop of Horrors with subtle shifts for a new generation. 

“My favorite part of playing Audrey is getting to update an iconic stock character,” says actor Molly Kinnon, who describes Audrey as kind and humble, just another kid on Skid Row living an unglamorous life in the cracks of society. Her home life isn’t great (her boyfriend is violent, and her choices are limited); but as Audrey II brings out confidence in Seymour, Audrey (I) begins to notice him.

Audrey II also ramps up interest in Mushnik’s otherwise quiet plant emporium, putting dollar signs in everyone’s eyes as they try to exploit the situation. “The story,” says Kinnon, “is about the inherent greed and consumerism that’s the backbone of the American Dream … the allure of possessions, notoriety, and the fortune that comes along with it, which ultimately leads to their downfall.” With a centerpiece character that is a massive, murderous mandrake, Little Shop of Horrors is bound to delight.

See Little Shop of Horrors at Solvang Festival Theater (420 2nd St., Solvang) from June 13 to July 7. See pcpa.org.