5 days ago
Little Shop of Horrors opens for business in Dublin
With Little Shop of Horrors set to open at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin this weekend, Evelyn O'Rourke headed there to meet the creative team behind the theatre's first in-house production.
In 1986 a movie called Little Shop of Horrors burst on to cinema screens, telling the story of a hapless florist called Seymour who stumbles upon a mysterious plant that grows into a monster.
The American horror comedy musical film, directed by Frank Oz, was a big hit with cinema audiences at the time, subsequently transferring to stage version which has been a popular show for both amateur and professional productions over the years.
This weekend sees a new stage production opening at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin and the excitement is building as the team there is producing its own in-house production for the first time.
"The aim is to give Irish musical creative teams, both on and off stage, an opportunity to work on a home grown level production on a major scale," explained Stephen Faloon, General Manager of the theatre. The cast and creative team behind Little Shop of Horrors. Photo by Brian McEvoy
Claire Tighe, director and choreographer for the show in Dublin, describes this production as a "statement of intent by investing in a fully Irish cast and creative team" and explained how it started with an open casting call where over 2,000 hopefuls auditioned.
"The idea is to demonstrate the breadth of musical theatre talent, not just only on stage but also in supportive, and the off stage, creative side of things."
She went on to explain how "most talented people, the people who want to work within the industry, have to go abroad to work elsewhere, because that is where the action is, so to bring it to Ireland is special."
Musical director David Hayes also teaches at the School of Music in Cork and he said that young students are very interested in developing music related careers here.
"There are a number of under graduate third level courses in Ireland, and now with the Leaving Cert rolling out the new theatre, drama, and film studies course too this year, it shows the on-going interest," he said. David O'Reilly as Seymour Krelborn. Photo by Cían O'Riain
He is enthusiastic about this production, noting that "this is an important moment for musical theatre, it takes a step forward, that we don't have to go to the UK all the time anymore, or it isn't our default, that you have to go, to the UK, we can do it here."
He added, "there's an opportunity, there is space, there's facility, there are resources and now there's a will which was the missing bit I guess."
David O'Reilly, who is playing Seymour Krelborn in the show, said that he and his friends have always had to focus on the UK as a base for work explaining that "certainly when I went over in 2007, if you wanted to work in musicals, you had to go over and live in London and train in London and kind of carve out a career there, so think its going to really change the landscape of musical theatre in Ireland and I'm very proud to be part of it." Little Shop of Horrors is set to open in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July. Photo by Brian McEvoy
Faloon said they have been building towards this production for many years, explaining that they are usually host touring West End productions and that "for 16 years I have watched, Irish talent come on and off stage as part of a tour of a brilliant West End or Broadway show, even like Kinky Boots last week, that we had two Irish stars in it, but they can't get work in Ireland."
He added "they have to go to London and beyond in order to get work, and this is the chance to bring them back home."
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Little Shop of Horrors opens at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on 25 July and runs until 9 August 2025.
