Little Shop of Ardors

Xande Zublin-Meyer entertains as the fetching Ilona, more a bemused modern than working-class floozy. Ethan Needham is an appealing Ladislav, the timid clerk with a cosmic perspective, and Ethan Vaughan as the young Arpad is especially winsome, with his ability to express emotion in his postures.

As usual, Anders Carlson makes the most of his one big scene, as the headwaiter who enforces his café’s “romantic atmosphere” with Prussian insistence. The café scene is also notable for some accomplished comic acrobatics.

The unseen “orchestra” was economical and tasteful: Wally Cooper on synthesizer provided elegant variety, Laura Welch was admirable on piano (especially picking up her music box cues), and Bobby Amirkhan kept the pulse on bass. This instrumentation proved very effective.

Finally, directors Dianne Zuleger and Tom Phillips put together a show that flows and works as a whole, while constructing solid individual scenes with variety in staging, movement and acting. In addition to the musical solos, the harmonies and group numbers are crisp and affecting.

The first act is about 90 minutes and feels long, perhaps due to the number of songs without a memorable hit (although Caitlin McMurtry can stop the show more than once). But there are few if any slack moments in this production. The subplots and romantic byplay keep the story interesting, and the setting of the shop (with Cindy Brown’s serviceable set) is used well. Who could not be charmed by a store where the clerks sing sweet farewells to the customers? The Christmas shopping theme and an evocative Christmas number might help to brighten an otherwise anxious holiday season.

As for that first production of She Loves Me at NCRT, there seems to be a dearth of documentation. So if anyone who was there — or was part of it — would like to share their memories, I’d love to hear from you.

Coming Up: The first performance of Dell’Arte’s annual holiday show, The Glasnost Family Holiday, is Nov. 28 at the Carlo. Traveling dates are posted at www.dellarte.com. All shows until the final weekend are free … Nov. 28 is also opening night for Ferndale Rep’s stage production of the cult holiday film, A Christmas Story. Details at www.ferndale-rep.org.

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