Move Over, Audrey II. Orphans Score in 'Little Shop of Christmas Tree Horrors'

Move over, Audrey II, you've got some competition. The bloodthirsty alien life form first introduced by Roger Corman in the cult 1961 classic “Little Shop of Horrors,” later given a soulful voice in the hit 1982 off-Broadway musical and 1986 movie, gets a holiday makeover in Ryan Landry's “Little Shop of Christmas Tree Horrors," this year's holiday show from the Gold Dust Orphans.

In Landry's parody, Audrey II is Horace, who first appears as a spindly little branch that is found by Norbet Feinstein (a letter-perfect Tim Lawton), an employee at dollar store in Revere, Massachusetts run by the miserly, green-hued Hermoine Grinchley (Landry). Fans of the Orphans are very familiar with Mrs. Grinchley, Landry's inspired take on the iconic Dr. Seuss character, that he has been playing in holiday shows for nearly 25 years. To his credit, she never gets tiresome.

Landry wisely ignores that popular musical version in his own take – no one suddenly sings “Suddenly Seymour” of “Somewhere It's Green.” Instead, he returns to the original film's period for inspiration with numerous pop melodies from the 1960s, plus titles from Debbie Gibson, Barry Manilow, and even “West Side Story,” to which he puts his own sharp lyrics. Wisely, though, he gives a nod to the musical version by including a trio of terrific backup singers that act as a Greek chorus – the self-styled Revere Sisters (Tad McKitterick, Tori Dowd, and Lizette Morris), who, with each appearance, display the fertile and megacamp imagination of Scott Martino with his ever-changing costumes. Martino also has a hand in the eye-filling production design (credited as The House of Martino), which includes the ever-changing Horace, in both human and puppet form, a clever pair of puppet stand-ins for WGBH commentators Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, and a splendid visual that shan't be spoiled here.

Even by the usual madcap standard of the Orphans, there is a lot to take in, especially with Martino's clever fashions, that even include dancing poop, a glazed donut, and a singing Christmas tree, but director Kiki Samko's sure hand keeps the comedy from getting out of control. Samko, Landry's collaborator for the past few years, is clearly simpatico with Landry's more-is-more approach, giving the show a fast, eye-filling musical theater staging that never lags.

In this take, Norbet finds the sadly undernourished Horace and feeds him some his Dunkin' Donuts eggnog, which restores him to health. But Horace doesn't begin to grow until he tastes blood after killing an old Jewish customer (a funny cameo by Martino). Overnight, Horace dwarfs humankind and Norbet becomes a celebrity interviewed by local news (in a sly parody of Boston personalities  Braude and Eagan, seen as puppets). Norbet is horrified by Horace's bloodthirsty ways, and hides his victims in garbage bags; but he is also enamored of Tawdry (a splendid Taryn Lane), his blonde coworker. When first seen, Tawdry is nursing a broken arm caused by her abusive girlfriend, Barb Diesel dork (Gina Carmela), the sadistic manager of a nearby Dunkin' Donuts. She lacks the confidence to break the relationship off.

As in Landry's previous work, nothing is off-limits for his brand of comedy, so expect a high raunch level with jokes about abuse and abortion that some might take as offensive. But also expect the sweet romance that develops between Norbet and Tawdry, largely in part to the chemistry between Lawton and Lane. In their guileless turns, the couple offset the off-the-wall camp, and both sing with terrific belts that would be right at home in venues ten times this size. There are also hilarious work from Gina Carmela as the butch Dunkin' Donuts manager and a nosy television reporter, Sarah Jones as Professor Penelope Ponds; and Joey Pelletier in an unabashed and very funny turn as a milkman who wears nothing but a jockstrap. Briana Scafidi provides the abundant choreography performed by a high-energy quartet (Scafidi, Gary Croteau, Andrea Muniz, and Edward Da Silva.)

The Orphans holiday show is now the only time Landry performs in Boston since he moved to New Orleans, so it is well worth a visit, especially if you haven't ventured to their new home in South Boston – the Iron Wolf Theatre in the Lithuanian Hall – that has proven to be a happy replacement for Machine, the Orphans previous home.

”Little Shop of Christmas Tree Horrors” continues through December 23 at the Iron Wolf Theatre at the Lithuanian Hall (Third Floor), 368 West Broadway, South Boston, MA. For more information, follow this link>.