"Little Shop of Horrors" was an unusual choice for a high-school musical, to say the least. It's chockful of domestic violence and unhealthy relationships, drug abuse and sadism. And -- oh, yeah -- all the main characters die a horrible death in the maw of the carnivorous plant, Audrey II.
But the Unionville High School theater department never shies away from a challenge. The dark play traditionally has a cast of only eight, but director Nicole Norton "opened out" the show so that far more students could participate as singers, dancers, and "dream" characters.
I'm always impressed with the poise of the UHS actors (they do not miss a line) and the energy they bring to their roles. Senior Will Lehmann,who was also the show's student director, was over-the-top amazing as the crazed nitrous oxide-inhaling dentist. And at one point senior Richard Childs (who plans to pursue a career in theater) was maniacally writhing around on the stage searching for blood spots.
I was wondering how the tech folks would handle the mechanics of Audrey II, and they didn't disappoint. Thanks to some special fertilizer (that would be blood), the evil entity ballooned from a normal-sized plant in a normal-sized flower pot to a monster with upper and lower jaws the size of kiddie pools. Audrey II was voiced ("Feed me!") by senior Zack Cannon, and the puppeteer was senior Sid Panchanadam. The two emerged from the plant only at the curtain call wearing T-shirts saying "Puppet" and "Voice."
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