Little Shop of Horrors debuts in PAC
Deep within one of the scariest areas of town, lay Skid Row; a street filled with gangs and looters. In the midst of the atrocious area, a small plant shop sits, waiting for a customer to come by. Struck by boredom, Seymour, one of the workers at the small plant store, has fallen in love with his co-worker, Audrey, and in attempt to win her over, he proceeds to experiment with some of the plants within the store and creates one unlike any other.
For the first time in Newbury Park High School history, students are able to perform as Seymour and Audrey for the first showing of Little Shop of Horrors in the Performing Arts Center. The show, which begins November 9th, was selected to be the Fall Musical this summer by Marilyn Strange, and the school’s theater department has been rehearsing intensely.
Allison Martinez, senior, is casted to play Audrey in the upcoming musical, but is no stranger to the Little Shop cast.
“About two years ago I did this show with Panic Productions. It was my first payed production and I was the only kid in the show,” Martinez said. “I really idolized the actress playing Audrey and this year I get to play the role myself. I’ve learned so much about myself as a performer and as a person in general since then and I’m really hoping that translates into the final product.”
Playing Seymour in the show is Kobe Burton, senior, who is ecstatic to bring his humor and emotion to the stage as the the lead role of the show.
“It’s been really an incredible experience for me. After I played the part at callbacks I knew I wanted the role but wasn’t sure how it would actually go as this character is different from every other character I’ve played, and especially different than the Pirate King last year. I’m just really excited for everyone to see the show,” Burton said.
With the Little Shop of Horrors show being claimed for having some of the greatest props in musicals, Melody Hellard, senior, has been working endlessly to produce Audrey 2, a colossal venus flytrap that sings and plays the antagonist of the show.
“It has been such a great experience so far creating the Audrey 2 puppets. It has been something I always wanted to do and I was so excited to take on the project, I have been collaborating with Mrs. Strange, the tech theatre class, the wood shop class as well working on my own at home to create the design of the bigger puppets,” Hellard said.
The props and costumes that stem from Hellard’s creativity is one of the many additions that bringings together the schools first production of Little Shop of Horrors. The cast is eager to debut the show, bringing new expectations to the NP Theatre department with a hilarious yet emotional musical.
“People should come see Little Shop of Horrors because we’ve worked really hard to make an entertaining and powerful show, you get to watch people you didn’t know could sing, dance, or act do all three!! It’s a fun thing to go to with friends to support other friends,” Martinez said.
