The costumes are assigned and the set, which includes leafy ivy that creeps into the audience, is built. All that remains is for Hickory Ridge High School students to take the stage for their spring performance of the hit musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”
The show, which will be performed at the school Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., will provide very different experiences for lead actor Hayden Welshans and lead actress Mary-Faith Strickland.
“This is my first play I’ve ever been in,” said Welshans, a sophomore who will take on the persona of Seymour for the show. “I saw the movie last year and I thought to myself, this is probably the only musical I’d ever do.”
Strickland, a junior, has been acting since she was 8 years old. This role, she admits, provides a special challenge, however, because of the popularity of the show and her character, Audrey.
“It’s hard because everybody has their own interpretation of what the character should be, but you have to make it your own,” she said. The cast has been hard at work for more than two months preparing for opening night.
“It was a lot more work than I expected it to be,” Welshans admitted. “We’ve been in the auditorium almost every day. You think it’s just memorization, but there’s really a whole lot more that goes into it.”
And Melanie Elicker, the school’s theater teacher, expects a lot from her students.
“I want it to make the perfect first impression as far as the musical theater department at Hickory Ridge,” she said. “I want it to encourage students to get involved.”
Getting students — especially boys — involved was a particularly difficult challenge for this show.
“I had to go out and recruit,” Elicker said. She also changed some of the roles in the show from boys to girls.
Her budget was also a challenge. The theater department hosted talent shows, comedy sketches and other performance throughout the year to help raise money to support “Little Shop of Horrors.”
So why, of all musicals, chose one about a plant that eats people?
“It’s one of my favorite musicals,” Elicker said. “I think it’s just because of the humor and satire, and I really enjoy the music.”
A look at ‘Little Shop’ The story follows Seymour as he attempts to gain the attention of Audrey, a co-worker at Mushnik’s Skid Row Florist.
Seymour gains fame with a plant he created by crossing a flytrap and an avocado, only to later learn that it lives on human blood. As the plant grows, so too does Seymour’s deception, as he feeds florist owner Mr. Mushnik and Audrey’s abusive boyfriend to the plant.
One night, the plant, growing increasingly needy for blood, lures Audrey close and attempts to eat her. Seymour arrives to save her, but it’s too late. In his anger, Seymour tries to kill the plant, only to be eaten himself.
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