New Village Arts gets its teeth into 'Little Shop of Horrors' with revival of horror comedy

New Village Arts gets its teeth into ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with revival of horror comedy

May 22, 2019 3:57 PM PT

If your attitude toward musical comedy is summed up by the phrase “Feed me!,” New Village Arts might have just the show for you.

The Carlsbad theater is staging a new production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the movie-based musical about a ravenously hungry flower from outer space and the people who try to tame it.

Cashae Monya and Sittichai Chaiyahat star as Audrey and Seymour in director AJ Knox’s production, which runs through Aug. 4.

The show also features Melissa Fernandes as Mushnik, Eboni Muse as The Plant, Philip David Black as Orin Scrivello DDS and other characters, Natasha Baenisch as Crystal, Chris Bona as Ronnette, and Patricia Jewel as Chiffon.

The 1982 musical’s score is by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, who would go on to collaborate on such huge Disney hits as “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

NVA’s “Little Shop” begins performances this weekend.

‘Little Shop of Horrors’

When: Previews begin Friday. Opens June 1. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Aug. 4.

Where: New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 State St., Carlsbad

Tickets: $25-$47 (discounts available)

Phone: (760) 433-3245

Online: newvillagearts.org

James Hebert

James Hebert is The San Diego Union-Tribune’s theater critic, and has covered the San Diego arts scene for more than two decades. He earned his master’s degree at Columbia University in New York and worked as a magazine editor in Boston before joining the U-T. Hebert’s awards include a national arts-writing prize from the Society for Features Journalism (for a profile of the choreographer Twyla Tharp), and some two dozen local and regional journalism honors; his work also has been republished in two college writing textbooks. In 2009, Hebert served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.