MAGNA — Little Shop of Horrors is a modern retelling of the Faust legend framed as a quaint show about an unassuming man who comes in contact with a “strange and interesting plant”. The ensuing misadventures at their flower shop can only be described as horrors. With music by Alan Menken and lyrics and book written by Howard Ashman, this show is a cult classic. The 60’s rock mixed with doo-wop style bring an unforgettable flavor to the ear. The Empress Theatre in Magna has put together a cute and sincere show that can be enjoyed by all ages and experience levels.
The production starts in director Nanny McKenzie’s vision of skid row, including Mushnik’s Skid Row Floral Shop, which remains a constant feature in the show. The constant of the flower shop makes for easy scene transitions and less chaos in the confined space of The Empress’s traverse stage space. This decision was advantageous for several reasons, the biggest of which seems to be that with an extremely small cast, there are less bodies to move items. The cast and small stage crew handled all transitions and scene changes well.
As the story begins, we are welcomed by a trio of street urchins with character and pizzazz. Crystal (Michelle Frierson) Ronnette (Rebecca Meats) and Chiffon (Leyla Vave) are full of life and intensity despite their life on Skid Row. These urchins become our guides through the story and have many background songs, and several featured songs. Their first introduction in ‘Skid Row’ was a great example of these actors’ fantastic vocals throughout. The constant element among this trio is their exceptional vocal work. There were several times in their performance that felt they were relying on the sound, hoping that lack of emotion or choreography would go unnoticed. Overall their performance as a group was good, with some room for improvement and consistency.
The small ensemble in this production had benefits and drawbacks. Some of the downsides were that with such a small group, it is easier for audience members to pick out mistakes or missed cues. On the plus side, it gave us a look into the depth of each character and a time for each ensemble member to shine, something I’m sure these actors were grateful for. Each ensemble actor was given chances to be a part of smaller supporting roles, and it was fun to see them change so completely in their performance of each new character.
The supporting leads in this show are Mr. Mushnik (Nate Fairclough) and Orvin Scrivello DDS (Carl Smith). Each of these actors brought something unique to their performance, and seemed to share negative elements as well. The most consistent negative element in this production was actors who seemed to get lost or forgetful, and needed to rely on others around them for cues and choreography. Fairclough was bright and sincere in his performance, if not a little lost. Smith was very committed to the strangeness of the character he portrayed, sometimes to his own detriment.
The character of the plant named Audrey II is always a challenge, as it is a sentient flytrap who grows consistently throughout the show. For this part to be successful it requires a strong voice-over actor and various sizes of functional plant puppets. This element of the show was captured wonderfully. The voice offered by Joshua Adams was strong and scary, and paired well with the puppeteers’ portrayal of their plants. The plants used were well built and functioned fantastically.
Audrey the person, portrayed by Taylore Cahoon, was larger than life in all aspects of characterization. Her written character is a doo-woppy blonde with a fashion sense that is noticed from blocks away. Her submissiveness to her abusive partner, contrasted with the companion she finds in Seymour offers a complex emotional range for Audrey to cover. With a characteristic east-coast affectation in her voice, her large personality is built into the writing. Cahoon makes decisions throughout that lend to an even larger personality than written. Her movements and choreography make her stand out against the backdrop of other actors in the show. Her vocal work was good and strong throughout, but sometimes overpowered any character choices, making it feels at moments like a concert instead of a musical.
Seymour Krelborn is an unassuming man down on his luck, with a quick turnaround in success thanks to this unusual plant. Riley Ernst appears for the first time at The Empress Theater, and blows away the audience with his full and sincere performance. His vocals are solid throughout and his character choices lend him to the meek and hopeful man, eventually earning some confidence and determination. He manages to blend his voice well with other performers and stand out in solo songs.
The set design of this show, done by AJ Mecham, focused heavily on the flower shop as the central feature. As the show progresses, and the success of the shop picks up, so do the dressings around the shop. New fixtures are installed and higher quality elements are added to the set throughout. A particularly nice touch on the part of set design is the addition of leaves and vines through the show as the plant begins to grow and take over the space.
Overall production quality was good. There are moments that have room for improvement, but these moments fade in comparison to the earnest and sincere performances offered by this small and talented cast. This production brings something for everyone, and is sure to be a good time.
MORE INFO: Little Shop of Horrors is currently playing at the Empress Theatre (9104 W 2700 S, Magna, UT 84044) as part of the theatre’s 2026 season. Performances run from February 27 through March 14, 2026, with evening performances on select dates and a special 2:00 PM sensory-friendly matinee on March 14. Standard tickets are $20. For the most up-to-date schedule, performance details, and official ticketing, visit the Empress Theatre website: https://www.empresstheatre.com/