Photo By Bruce Bennett

Audrey and Seymour (Tari Kelly and Jonathan Rayson) prove that there's someone for everyone in the national tour of Little Shop of Horrors.

It's really about the music. No one goes to see Little Shop of Horrors expecting a piece of moving drama -- or even a witty comedy. The story of a man-eating plant is so far-fetched and so poorly and illogically assembled that you pretty much have to hold your nose -- and occasionally avert your eyes, especially when the super-sized plant gorges itself on human body parts. You probably know that the show is based on Roger Corman's schlocky sci-fi film from 1960, and its roots are showing -- intentionally, I suppose.

Little Shop, the touring musical that's presently on view at the Aronoff Center through April 17, was one of the first musicals to dig back into the film archives for inspiration. Today it's a more common phenomenon: Witness Hairspray, for instance, or The Producers. But more than two decades ago, it was an innovation to take something so tasteless and add songs. The show succeeded because it had a campy, tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole affair. Rather than the film's serious threat-to-the-world approach, the musical knew it was ridiculous and played it accordingly.

The result was a bunch of comic-book caricatures rather than characters you can even remotely care about. And the story line has more holes than Swiss cheese. That's not a fatal flaw, but it's likely to leave you with the feeling that you've just watched one really dumb show. Loveable, but dumb. Kind of like Audrey and Seymour, the central characters.

Nevertheless, Little Shop's music is lots of fun: It was created back in 1982 by the team of Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) and the late Alan Menken (music). They weren't well known then, but their subsequent work for Disney animated features made them legends: The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) are results of their collaborations. Those shows were decidedly family fare; with Little Shop it's more in the PG range -- not likely to offend but with a little more edge.

The songs take their inspiration from the Doo-Wop era, embodied in the trio of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette (Yasmeen Sulieman, Iris Burruss and LaTonya Holmes): They're all sass and choreography -- although diction (or a sloppy sound system) blurs some of the finer lyrics. Nevertheless, from the opening title number to funny parodies like "Dentist" (as if the character they're portraying were James Dean reincarnated), plus back-up singing for most of the show's numbers -- when they pop out of doorways and tenement windows -- they embody the tongue-in-cheek attitude that makes this production work.

As the hapless Seymour, Jonathan Rayson has a great voice and puts a bit less emphasis on the role's ineptitude than on his disconnection from other people. It's not as funny in a slapstick way, I suppose, but it humanizes Seymour, making his big number, "Suddenly Seymour," a lot more powerful. Audrey, the dumb blonde object of Seymour's affection, is played by Tari Kelly, and she's got a sensational voice in a petite package. Her blend of little-girl vulnerability and grown-up kinkiness is winning, and her sweetly silly dream-of-the-future song, "Somewhere That's Green," is a highlight. (And yes, there's a strong vein of irony even in the double-entendre of that song, given Audrey's ultimate fate.)

Minor roles are two-dimensional stereotypes and rather tiresome: flower-shop owner Mushnik (Ray Demattis) is all Yiddish angst, and actor James Moye fails to give much pizzazz (or differentiation) to a series of small characters -- including the sadistic dentist, who has more Elvis than is really necessary. Michael James Leslie brings a big Rhythm & Blues voice to Audrey II, the famished flytrap (although he's also masked by a fuzzy sound system).

Think of Little Shop of Horrors as a good-time concert with some nice sets (the expressionistic evocation of a generic Skid Row by Scott Pask) and appropriately tasteless costumes (William Ivey Long), and you should have a good time at the Aronoff Center. Grade: B-