Washington Post - Recommended
"...It’s funny timing for “Little Shop of Horrors” to land at Ford’s Theatre. This is, after all, a musical in which the whole company sings out their desperation to leave “downtown, where the folks are broke/ downtown, where your life’s a joke.” Lately, there’s been a constant hum of anxiety about what ails this corner of D.C.: Its offices are dark, its lunch joints becalmed. Suburban commuters complain of being afraid to dine out, to park their cars, to so much as carry their purses. (Apparently, “Somewhere That’s Green” lies in Northern Virginia.)"
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...Little Shop has by now become a staple of American theater. The 1982 musical, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, blends comedy, horror, satire, and allegory to tell the story of Seymour Krelborn, a flower shop worker in an urban skid row in 1960 who one day buys a "strange and interesting" plant similar to a venus fly-trap."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"...The songs, like the characters and the Skid Row setting, burst with color and offbeat personality, and director Kevin S. McAllister, a fantastic singer and actor in his own right, has assembled a cast of performers in tune with the show's eccentric spirit."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...With the imminent arrival of spring, it's a good time for theatregoers to revisit the world of Little Shop of Horrors. The current production at Ford's Theatre in Washington is a delight, from a wildly talented cast to the visual impact of Paige Hathaway's color-saturated set–and of course, the amazing Audrey Two, as engineered by Monkey Boys Productions, operated by Jay Frisby and Ryan Sellers, and given rapturous voice by Tobias A. Young."
Washington City Paper - Not Recommended
"...It's hard to imagine that, when writing Little Shop of Horrors in 1982, composer Alan Menken and book writer and lyricist Howard Ashman were hoping to elicit a reaction of, "Well, that was sweet." After all, a people-eating plant capitalizing on one man's unchecked greed to devour human flesh and take over the world is hardly the stuff of rom-coms. Sociologists may tell you that, in the four decades since its premiere, society has become desensitized to such acts as a result of the violent images both in entertainment and the news. But, in the case of Ford's Theatre's garden-variety Little Shop, running through May 18, the more likely culprit is simply that, in its slickness, the show struggles to leave any blood on the stage."
MD Theatre Guide - Somewhat Recommended
"...He’s green, he’s mean, he’s an unidentified plant with a thirst for blood! “Little Shop of Horrors,” composer Alan Menken’s 1980s ear-worm, horror-comedy classic, has landed at Ford’s Theatre for the spring. This traditional production hits all the beats “Little Shop” fans will expect with bebop tunes, a grunge-technicolor set, and ever-expanding puppetry. The delightful cast are only dampened by humdrum direction that occasionally misfires, missing camp for cheese."
Theatre Bloom - Recommended
"...Little Shop of Horrors returns to Ford’s Theatre from March 15 through May 18 after a previous mounting in 2010. From its origin as a low budget 1960 sci-fi dark comedy by Roger Corman, to its initial adaptation as an off-Broadway musical in 1982, to subsequent high-budget film versions and worldwide stage success, Little Shop of Horrors has become one of the most treasured pieces of American musical theatre."
BroadwayWorld - Not Recommended
"...But Little Shop's director Kevin S. McAllister made poor and confusing choices that squandered the resources of the theatre and the talent of the cast."
