Talia Suskauer, Etai Benson and Adam Heller in “Little Shop of Horrors” at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photo Gary Ng

The concessions at the Ogunquit Playhouse offer some appealing choices. But none would meet the gastric demands of the central character in the venerable summer theater’s latest production.

In between season-defining Ogunquit shows by Sondheim and a world premiere, the longstanding favorite “Little Shop of Horrors” is back on stage. Though it, as always, includes just a few gruesome details in its storytelling, it’s an exaggerated, off-the-wall spirit that reigns supreme in this twisted little show about the impact on the world of an alien plant-creature with a not easily satisfied appetite.

Based on a classic 1960 Roger Corman film, the musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken tells the tale of a put upon Skid Row flower shop assistant named Seymour who nurtures a peculiar plant that gains fame while also (don’t tell anyone) seeking human flesh and blood to feed its growth.

Wealth and the heart of beautiful coworker Audrey await as long as Seymour can stomach his moral compromise in keeping the plant, which he names Audrey II, disturbingly happy. Director Hunter Foster (who once played Seymour to acclaim on Broadway) keeps that struggle front and center in the roughly 100-minute-plus-intermission show.

Etai Benson aptly fills the role of Seymour as a nerdy schlemiel who’s reluctantly willing to ignore the admonishments of his hardline boss, Mr. Mushnik (Adam Heller), and go the distance when Audrey II periodically demands “FEED ME.”

Latrice Royale as Audrey II. Photo by Nile Scott Studios

The augmented baritone voice given to the wildly wigged and costumed Latrice Royale, of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fame, lets the audience know the plant she plays is not to be messed with. Royale commands numbers like “Git it” and “Suppertime” with a style that makes you wish the flamboyant star had been given a little more to do in the show. The laughs she gets are solid, and the show definitely blossoms when she’s put under the lights.

But the story ultimately belongs to Seymour and Audrey, the latter portrayed by Talia Suskauer as a curvy cutie with a heart of gold who’s being abused by stoned-out boyfriend Orin (a versatile Edward Watts, in one of several roles). Suskauer and Benson effectively duet on “Suddenly Seymour,” backed by a periodically appearing trio of singer/dancers (Chelsea Hooker, Briana Brooks, Olivia Elease Hardy), who archly add the trebly harmonies of classic ’60s girl-groups to many of the songs.

The choreography by Mara Newbery Greer reaches a peak when the trio joins Audrey II and her Da Vine Dancers (Nick Davis, Joseph Ryan Harrington) for a moment that epitomizes the strange sense of celebratory liberation that the show ultimately achieves. The instrumental accompaniment, led by Dan Pardo, engagingly mines R&B and rock gold.

The sets by Scott Pask maintain the dingy ambiance of a place from which horrors small and large may emerge.

Steve Feeney is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.