December 2019: Little Shop of Horrors

Costume designs for Little Shop of Horrors (1982) by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

This project was part of my studies at Edinburgh College of Art. The assignment was to create a concept with costume designs and scenography for the musical Little Shop of Horrors working from botanical motifs, including technical drawings and material samples.

A character line up painted in water colour and with black line art. Audrey II, a large and strange plant, is as wide as the other seven characters standing together. Audrey II has a purple center which is similar to a sea urchin, radiating outwards into what looks like an orange anemone, then a pink aloe vera plant, then large green kale leafs.

Left to right: Audrey II (final stage), Seymour (Act I), Mr. Mushnik, Audrey (Act I), Orin Scrivello, Chiffon, Ronette, Crystal.

Little Shop of Horrors works in the grand tradition of pulp and dark humor. Audrey II is monstrous and horrifyingly scheming, just as she is hilarious and magnificent, a key attraction of the show. The book as well as the music is over the top, darkly witty, simple with a sincerity and depth for anyone who cares to look. As stated in the authors note to the book: "the script keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek, so the actors should not."

This adaptation sets the show in the 1990's, drawing from cultural and aesthetical similarities between the era and the original 1960's setting: both of them defined by futurism, hope, playfulness and liberation. My inspirations include Bridget Rileys Blaze 1 (1963), 1990's girl groups such as TLC, the retrofuturism of both eras, Julia Roberts and mechanical toy the Hoberman sphere. The aim here was to keep the show from becoming a time capsule; making a work a period piece can be a powerful tool to show the audience truths that might be too close for comfort in a contemporary story, but Little Shop of Horrors is also an established show and as such, moving away from the original setting is a way to let audiences find new perspectives on the story.

A mixed media sketch page. There are several pencil sketches of a woman in various tops and skirts in purple and grey. Two photos show Julia Roberts as a prostitute in the movie Pretty Woman and Mariah Carey in a short black dress. A pattern of pink buds cover the rest of the page. A mixed media sketch page. The three chorus girls have been drawn in various dresses and outfits from 1960s and 1990s girl groups, using black and silver ink, as well as pencil. A photo shows a girl in a short silver dress with narrow straps raising her arms. A mixed media sketch page. The background features various watercolour sketches of plants. On top of that is laid a brown paper hoberman mechanism; it is similar to a spirograph, two circles made out of connected angles. On top of that are sketches of a man in a white jacket with a blue shawl collar and pastel glasses, as well as the space suit from 2001: A Space Odyssey. A photo of a man wearing a black coat with a tie-dye pattern is pasted in.

Above: sketchbook pages for Audrey, the chorus girls, Orin and Audrey II (with an early test for the animatronic mechanism).
Below: development sketches for pattern print designs.

An ink sketch of blue lines making up a complex structure reminiscent of flower petals. Black on white and white on black ink sketches of wisteria. The sketches start out detailed and become looser. An ink sketch. A black line in a neverending S-pattern make create a thick line that again curves on itself in S-shapes. This broader line create a larger, more expressive S-line cropped off by the edges of the image.

In the great tradition of pulp monsters, Audrey II can easily be read symbolically as the physical manifestation of the structures that trap the characters in Skid Row, all of them too caught up with using her to leverage themselves out of their situation to pay much mind to the threat she poses. As such, elements of Audrey appear all throughout the designs, the botanical motifs expanding and creating new connections as her influence over the characters grow.

The set reaches out beyond the fourth wall and uses a trompe l'oeil effect. Just as with the costumes there is a playfulness and attention to detail. As act two begins, Audrey II has spread, botanical elements hanging from the rafters and over the balconies of the stage.

Below: sketch and calculations for scenography model, costume plates with samples for Audrey (act I and II) and Orin Scrivello.

Digital sketches for the set model. Pencil sketches noting the mathematics of the forced perspective as well as photomontage of an urban outside brick wall, with windows and posters, warping and narrowing as the perspective changes. Watercolour illustrations for Audrey, alongside textile and pattern samples. Audrey is drawn twice, first in a purple knit top and a pink print circle skirt. The skirt finishes above her knees and the top has a plunging V-neckline. The second Audrey wears a grey knit top with a off-the-shoulder collar so wide it hits at her elbow, as well as pale jeans with an abstract floral print. Both have brown, curly hair and wear heels. Watercolour illustrations for Orin, alongside textile and pattern samples. Orin is shown from the front and back: he has ginger hair worn in a greaser 'elephant trunk' style, a pink shirt, black trousers which fade into white, green wrap sunglasses and a white trenchcoat with purple shawl collar and a purple print. There are detail illustrations which show that the shirt is similar to the Star Trek uniform in cut, as well as depicting Orin's gas mask; a bell jar style helmet.