THEATER REVIEW : Getting a Raw Deal at ‘Little Shop’ : New company’s routine production is on a high school level. The pace of the staging is sluggish, and there is some very uneven casting.

Making theater happen in Orange County is the art of the impossible. With a few exceptions--so few you can count them on one hand--theater companies are hampered by a dearth of resources and talent, not to mention the absence of audiences willing to nurture them.

So it is no pleasure to report that the musical revival of “The Little Shop of Horrors,” presented at Christ College in Irvine by the recently formed Pacific Theatre Company, turns out to be a routine production on the level of a high school offering with little to recommend it beyond its good intentions.

The genial doo-wop funk of “Shop’s” music and lyrics does manage to rescue the show from the sluggish pace of the staging and some very uneven casting. And the quirky charm of the story--a spoof about a pair of lovelorn flower-shop clerks on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and their man-eating plant from outer space--does have a certain built-in appeal.

Several of the performances are passable. Jennifer Johnson sings well as Audrey, the masochistic flower-shop girl, but she wobbles around in a blond wig and stiletto heels with somewhat less conviction, and her wan portrayal of the character seems an imitation. Meanwhile, Greg Kirby gives a monotonously bushy-tailed performance as Seymour, the nerdy clerk, as if he were well-scrubbed, milk-fed and straight off the farm instead of coping with life on the grubby New York streets.

Still, contrasted with David W. Elliot’s sclerotic portrayal of Mushnik, the flower-shop owner, they both come off like polished veterans. As for Steve Lundblom’s performance as the sadistic dentist, it is gamely energetic but little else. The likable street chorus of Lanette C. Jones, Araxi M. Kitsinian and Ashlee Lewis is at least consistent.

Ironically, the cast’s two unseen members, Bil Barratt and Mark Rustad, turn in the most assured performances. Barratt sings the role of the plant, Audrey II, with bluesy, raucous authenticity. And Rustad, the puppeteer hidden inside the giant-sized plant, brings it alive with just the right moves.

‘Little Shop of Horrors’

A Pacific Theatre Company presentation. Book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. Music by Alan Menken. Produced by Ronald Rapp. Directed by Mic Shackelford. Scenic design by Shackelford and Rapp. Lighting by Rob Wolter. Costumes by Mark Buchholz, Wendy Lane and Shackelford. Sound by Paul Moon. With Lanette C. Jones, Araxi M. Kitsinian, Ashlee Lewis, David W. Elliot, Jennifer Johnson, Greg Kirby, Steve Lundblom, Bil Barratt, Amy Johnstone, Cathy Quast, Jasmine Curry. Musicians: Rob Blaney, Christopher Saraga, Rick Roessler, David Schulz. At the Studio Theatre at Christ College, 1530 Concordia, Irvine. Performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., through Sept. 8. Tickets: $5 to $7. Information: (714) 786-3540.