Feed me, Seymour, feed me all night long.
This year’s student-run musical (SRM), “Little Shop of Horrors,” was performed at CHS from April 1 to April 3 and from April 8 to April 10. Directed by senior Ian Miller, “Little Shop of Horrors” was absolutely excellent. It depicted Seymour’s inner struggle between what he wants to do and what he knows he actually should do about his carnivorous, blood-loving plant named Audrey II, as well as the blossoming (no pun intended) romance between Seymour and Audrey.
Sophomore Robbie Love and freshman Ben Diamond played Seymour, the main character, alternating every performance. Each had his own take on the character, although both effectively interpreted Seymour’s inner struggle. Love’s interpretation of Seymour was clearly showing his struggle with the decision of whether he should stop feeding his plant human blood or not, and so he played a decidedly more aggressive Seymour. Diamond, on the other hand, was a more innocent, lovestruck, helpless version of Seymour. Diamond played a more believable Seymour, but Love was able to deliver his lines with more humor.
Senior Sarah McAfee played Audrey, Seymour’s romantic interest. McAfee had great stage presence, and she was able to maintain an unnatural, high-pitched accent throughout the play. She was able to channel Audrey’s low self-image through dynamic facial expressions and an aura of helplessness.
Junior Fergus Inder added to “Little Shop of Horrors” through his lead role of Mr. Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop that houses Seymour’s strange and interesting plant. He was able to channel life into Mr. Mushnik’s character through over-dramatization; this was great, though, since Mushnik believed himself to be greater than the others in the play, and Inder’s performance reflected this fact. Mushnik’s humorous lines and actions were delivered perfectly by Inder as well.
It was fulfilling to see new faces added to this performance. In particular, sophomore James Kerr played one of the lead male roles, the dentist, extremely well by using a confident, slimy voice that only hilarious antagonists could have. The dentist added comic relief because of his craziness.
The obvious challenge of “Little Shop of Horrors” was the plant, Audrey II. Audrey II needed to be mobile, able to talk, and have an overall creepy factor. Miller solved this challenge by using students as extensions of the center of the plant, which was played by senior Ali Meyer. Audrey II was a very seductive, fear-inspiring plant in Miller’s version of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Of course, the play would not be complete without the music, as “Little Shop of Horrors” is, of course, a musical. Senior John Holland was the musical director and arranger, as well as the piano player. The orchestra was able to perform beautifully under his direction.
The set was also an excellent addition to the play. The iron fence and trashcans upstage showed that the location of this musical, Skid Row, was a not a great place to live and added to the overall creepiness of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Senior Erin Knadler was in charge of the lighting. The lighting added tremendously to the mood to the play. The lights grew dim whenever the plant was present on stage, creating a feeling of intensity to the already-sinister plant scenes.
In addition, Moira MacDougal and Marin Klostermeier’s costumes enhanced the performances. Audrey’s silver sparkly dress added to the girly-ness and, therefore, helplessness of her personality. Mr. Mushnik’s attire demonstrated the time period’s stress on similarity and cleanliness. The dentist’s leather jacket depicted his toughness and added to the “bad boy” personality. Seymour’s clothes emphasized his timidity when around the other characters. When he tries to impress Audrey by wearing the dentist’s leather jacket, Audrey is not impressed and, in fact, begins to cry because it reminds her of the toughness of the dentist. The leather jacket did not suit Seymour’s personality at all.
Overall, this year’s SRM was not one to miss. Oh, and as a final warning: don’t feed the plant.