Things We Love About Little Shop of Horrors: a randomly appearing trio of backup singers. The dynamic between a sadistic dentist and a masochistic patient. A gigantic soul-singing alien plant-beast. In all honesty, our Little Shop experience is largely based on the 1986 Frank Oz movie musical, but seeing as how the upcoming production is that film version just transferred to the stage, we feel fairly confident in our knowledge. We've seen the flick about 30 times, know the soundtrack well enough to "do" all the voices and even tried out with "Somewhere That's Green" for a high school dinner show. The thing that's so alluring about the admittedly B-rated plot, aside from the idea that there might really be three girls outside vocalizing around what's happening in our life, is the combination of genres. The musical, based on the 1960 movie by Roger Corman, contains a fantastic balance of morbidity, comic relief, cheesiness, romance, despair and good-ol'-fashioned violence in the feeding of body parts to a bulbous plant. The show coming to Dallas Summer Musicals on Tuesday might not have Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., offering such memorable quotes as "Nice plant...Big," or the voice of Levi Stubbs spouting from the plant niceties like "I need blood, and he's got more than enough!" but the spirit and the lyrics are still there. The actors may not be as familiar, but the evil of Audrey II prevails, and there's nothing we like better than a musical with evil at its core...and in its score. Make like Christopher Guest and proclaim, "My, what an interesting plant!" at the Music Hall in Fair Park through August 21. Performances are at 8 p.m. daily, with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays, Sunday, August 15, and Thursday, August 19. Tickets are $11 to $75. Call 214-373-8000. --Merritt Martin
In the Swing
8/9
"It was absolutely amazing from start to finish," says Todd Pipes of recording with the Light Crust Doughboys. "It was jaw-dropping." The co-owner of BPL Studios recently worked with the Western swing musicians who, in their 80s, are still playing shows. Pipes says their recording session, which was done over a four-day period, was all live. In addition, a production company was there shooting footage for a DVD. "Young musicians need to see the DVD just to see how good a musician can be," he says. Audiences will get their chance to see the boys live on August 9 with A Cowboy Harvest Hoe-Down at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre, 5400 E. Mockingbird Lane. Tickets are $16. Call 214-821-1860. --Rhonda Reinhart
Top of the Tots
8/7
When you learn you're going to be a father, there are plenty of hardships you expect and accept. Late-night feedings, spit-up on new shirts, being splattered with all manner of bodily fluids. After a while, it's just no big deal. But no one ever tells you about The Wiggles. No one ever tells you that, in three years, you'll be shelling out $18 to $33 to watch a quartet of real-life Teletubbies--Anthony, Greg, Murray and Jeff--leading sing-a-longs about going swimming, visits to the doctor's office and eating your vegetables. Why does no one mention this? Why? Well, I guess it's better than when they turn 12 and just want to listen to Hilary Duff. The Wiggles perform at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Nokia Live. Call 972-854-5111. --Zac Crain
Theyll Be Back
Bass Hall's phony Beatlemania
8/6
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Of course, "they" have a laundry list of clichés to make us all feel better about ourselves, and "they" obviously haven't seen Ian Astbury go all Single White Female on the essence of Jim Morrison. To be fair, The Cult-turned-The Doors front man takes identity theft to a creepy new level, so it's not fair to indict by association the quartet of bowl cuts pretending to be the Beatles who storm the Bass Performance Hall stage on Friday and Saturday night. After all, 1964--The Tribute is back by popular demand with the detail-obsessed Faux Four playing, moving, dressing and speaking just like John, Paul, George and the other one. If you're a fan of the Beatles before they started taking lots of drugs and making music that's still relevant, you're in for a treat. Even the harshest of critics, Dick Clark, said, "1964--The Tribute creates magic!" And who would know better than Dick? The Bass Performance Hall is at 525 Commerce St. Call 1-877-212-4280 to order $17 to $32 tickets. --Matt Hursh
Tattle Tales
The art of brotherly love
8/7
Relationships between siblings are multifaceted. It's hard to comprehend the fact that the person who pulled your hair and flicked toothpaste in your eyes as a child is the same person who might one day be the only link between your present, past and future. And sometimes the ties between siblings strangle rather than bind. "Sibling Revelry," this year's theme at SceneShop at Arts Fifth Avenue, explores both the good and the bad of sibling relationships in a series of short scenes and monologues. A cover band performs music by Hank Williams, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Ray Charles before the show. The showcase, Sibling Revelry, will be performed at 8 p.m. August 7, August 13 and August 14 at Arts Fifth Avenue, Fifth Avenue and West Allen Street, Fort Worth. Live music performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $7. Reservations not accepted. Call 817-923-9500 or visit www.artsfifthavenue.com. --Stephanie Durham
