The Brook Arts Center opens with this campy gem.
By: Stuart Duncan
Back from the ravages of Hurricane Floyd and a flood that plunged the town of Bound Brook under nine feet of water, the Brook Theatre has officially reopened as the Brook Arts Center. The show is Little Shop of Horrors, the musical culled from the Roger Corman black-and-white horror gem of the early 1960s. Howard Ashman wrote the script and the lyrics, and Alan Menken contributed the score, thereby taking the B-grade film to new heights.
The plot involves a plant that thrives on blood and works its way up through body parts until it is big and strong enough to devour Cleveland and Des Moines. It is a little charmer, filled with laughs and good tunes. It would be wonderful to tell you that all is well and happy at the Brook. Wonderful, but inaccurate.
You see, the theater started out in the 1920s as a vaudeville house, later becoming a movie palace. You may remember the type ornate walls, high, high ceilings, and in this particular case, a domed ceiling that does tricks with sound. It opened as a showplace on Jan. 21, 1927, with five vaudeville acts, plus two short films, and 1,300 seats. It has been remodeled into a legitimate 300-400 seat theater, but the problems of that ceiling plus various other building issues remain. The opening night performance had lighting glitches and huge sound concerns, including a balky microphone system that went on and off at odd intervals, making the lyrics virtually incomprehensible and challenging a fine cast throughout.
To its credit, the company blithely shouldered ahead. Paul Kelly as Seymour and Rose Pedone as Audrey sang beautifully whether or not the mikes were working. Amy Wells, Tracey Lynn Haskell and Michelle Russell played and sang "the urchins" with great bravado. Bob Dumpert shines as Mr. Mushnik and Patrick Andrae played not only the semi-sadistic dentist, but practically everybody else.
But there is much work to be done before audiences can relax. Perhaps it would not have been such a bad idea to hold the opening another few days.
Little Shop of Horrors continues at the Brook Arts Center, 10 Hamilton St., Bound Brook, through Nov. 12. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Oct. 31, 7 p.m., Nov. 12, 2 p.m. Tickets cost $25, $20 seniors/students ($35 Oct. 31). For information, call (732) 469-7700. On the Web: www.brookarts.org

