Christopher wrote this at around evening time:
Well it has been awhile since I have taken the Blogger Idol stage. Let’s see if I can still work the audience.
I Confess…
I confess I like musicals. I like all kinds of theater but I really love musicals. They are so much fun. Last week I went to see Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin. I also purchased the soundtrack to the Alan Menken/Howard Ashman musical Little Shop of Horrors.
From the Little Shop of Horrors website:
Meek, mild-mannered, out-of-luck Seymour Krelbourn has just discovered an exotic little plant with a strange and unusual appetite. The plant is growing remarkably fast–and so is Seymour’s love for Audrey, his co-worker at the flower shop. But she has a boyfriend…and the plant has a bloodthirsty secret that threatens the entire planet. The feeding-frenzy begins, as Seymour becomes a celebrity and the plant becomes a larger-than-life sensation.
The music is all in a 60’s motif, which is quite fun. The thing that struck me most about the musical is the Audrey II, the plant and how it changes Seymour. At the beginning of the the musical Seymours sings about wanting to get out of his pitiful life on skidrow. He wants more:
Someone show me a way to get outta here,
’cause I constantly pray I’ll get outta here
Please, won’t somebody say I’ll get outta here
Someone gimme my shot or I’ll rot here.
One day, during a sudden, total eclipse of the sun, Seymour found the Audrey II and discovered that the only thing that would make the plant grow was to feed it human blood. First a little but soon the plant’s appetite grew too big for Seymour to supply. The plant told Seymour that he needed to go kill someone and feed it to the growing plant. Of course, Seymour couldn’t do that, it was wrong. The plant was willing to bargain:
Would you like a Cadillac car?
Or a guest shot on Jack Paar?
How about a date with Hedy Lamarr?
You gonna git it.
Would you like to be a big wheel,
Dinin’ out for every meal?
I’m the plant that can make it all real
You gonna git it
I’m your genie, I’m your friend
I’m your willing slave
Take a chance, just feed me and
You know the kinda eats,
The kinda red hot treats
The kinda sticky licky sweets
I crave
Seymour does and the plant helps to make Seymour famous and rich. Only problem for Seymour is, the plant grows even hungrier, Seymour must continue to feed the plant to maintain his new found riches.
The Audrey II reminds me of sin. Sin makes all kinds of promises of riches, glory, fame, etc. But as it turns out, the promises prove to be hollow, they are lies. If you feed it, it wants more and more, eating you away.
In the end, Little Shop of Horrors is a cautionary tale. At the conclusion of the musical the Greek-like Chorus tell the audience:
They may offer you fortune and fame
Love and money and instant acclaim
But whatever they offer you
Don’t feed the plants
They may offer you lots of cheap thrills
Fancy condos in Beverly Hills
But whatever they offer you
Don’t feed the plants
Look out! Here comes Audrey Two!
Sounds like good advise.
Class dismissed!
Filed under: Blogger Idol, Links/E-Mail Forwards
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