The Broadway version of the musical, “Little Shop of Horrors” will be presented alongside Musical Theatre International from April 24-26. All three days include a 7 p.m. performance, while Saturday, April 26, includes a 2 p.m. performance as well. General admission tickets will be $10, while $5 tickets will be available to students for the Thursday show only. Tickets are available for purchase on the FVHS theatre SeatYourself account and on their Instagram account.
“‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is a fun, sci-fi musical that follows unlucky characters on Skid Row and a strange plant that turns people’s lives around for better or worse. It has central messages about greed, survival, and the importance of being careful what you wish for,” said senior Brooke Dilley.
The male lead, Seymour, will be played by Anthony Sicola; the female lead, Audrey, will be played by Brooke Dilley and Madelyn Smith. Mushnik will be played by Amelia Fruend and Alyx Tidwell, and Audrey II will be played by Lauren McNamara.
This year’s musical has two actors for a few of the same roles. It’s new for the FVHS theatre, and is there to give people access to roles they otherwise wouldn’t have. It gives them the opportunity to showcase their skills with the limited selection of lead roles. Double casted roles like Audrey, Mushnik, the Urchins and some ensemble roles, will be rotated between the two actors. It’s divided by show. That means one cast, the Skid Cast, performs Thursday’s opening night and the Saturday matinee, while Row Cast performs Friday and Saturday night.
As this musical is at the end of the school year, it will be the seniors’ last show before graduating. The “last show” is very meaningful for seniors in theatre because oftentimes they have been acting since freshman year or even way before that.
Dilley said, “It’s been a really fun time and amazing opportunity to play a lead role like Audrey, and even a big character like the Queen of Hearts for ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in the fall. Our program seems to equally value seniority, talent and hard work, so after being in so many shows, I feel lucky that I have a chance to play a part I’m so passionate about.”
If one is familiar with “Little Shop of Horrors,” they’ll recall that Audrey II is a giant potted plant with a great mouth. Usually, she is a very animated puppet controlled by a puppeteer while her actor stands off-stage and out of sight of the audience to provide vocals. However, there have been many productions that feature Audrey II played by an actor in costume. This allows her to be mobile and more expressive, as well as it being easier on the crew. It remains a secret how Audrey II is going to be portrayed in the FVHS production, though. It’s being kept as a surprise for the shows, so you’ll just have to buy tickets to find out.
While the cast of the show is the most recognized because of their stage presence, the crew is recognized for their lack thereof. The crew is always hustling backstage to make sure the performance goes as smoothly as possible. They’re responsible for building the set, lighting, sound and setting up the stage for each scene, among other things. The crew is often not as appreciated since they’re behind the scenes, but they’re an essential part of the show.
Assistant stage manager Laurel Feldner said, “I believe our director and cast appreciate us a lot and give us credit, but I sometimes think the audience forgets that students built what they see on stage by hand,” The crew works just as hard as the cast, if not more. There have been struggles faced by the crew in the set building and planning.
Feldner said, “Struggles we’ve faced as the crew is accommodating all the scenes and elements of the scene on stage. We’ve also struggled a bit with moving certain set pieces, but our stage hands are hardworking and great at what they do.”
Theatre in itself is often only thought of acting and performing; however, a huge part of it is backstage. You could have a play without a set, hair and makeup, costumes, lighting, sound or microphones, but at what point does it stop being a play and start becoming just a bunch of performers on a stage? Crew is absolutely necessary to any production with most productions having much more crew than cast. They’re solely responsible for making a show visually appealing.
Come out and support both the cast and crew to show your appreciation on April 24-26.
