Little Shop of Horrors

         

          Since I've been involved with theatre there are a few shows I've desperately wanted to be in/work on, this Fall it looks like I'll finally be able to mark one of them off the list! In November, Springer Opera House is presenting Little Shop of Horrors, a musical comedy about a singing, man-eating plant from outer space written by Disney Legends Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The original Off-Broadway production opened in 1982 and starred Lee Wilcof and Ellen Greene as Seymour and Audrey, the latter going on to re-create her role for the 1986 film directed by Muppeteer Frank Oz. The show came to Broadway in 2003 and starred Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler (be still my heart!), and some of the largest puppets ever produced for the stage!
       One of the Artistic Directors of the Springer casually mentioned to me backstage at one of the final performances of Cinderella that "we'll have a project or two for you next season, too", and though he couldn't tell me what it was, or anything about it, I got the feeling it was something big. I didn't think much about what he'd said for a few weeks, but when I finally got word of the season announcements some could say I "freaked out", but that would be a horrible understatement.
        Almost EVERY professional puppeteer in the country has worked on this show in some form or fashion... and if I, a nerd from the middle of nowhere, can get a gig in this amazing show, maybe my dream of being a Muppeteer one day might not be so crazy. And the Springer... THE Springer Opera House having enough faith in ME to pull off one of the biggest puppet shows in the history of musical theatre... I might have a future there, too. The pressure is on.

          The thought of doing this show has been in my head for nearly 5 years now, I've been sketching, and problem-solving this character for what seems like forever, so I certainly have a few ideas as far as the puppets are concerned. In all my excitement, I decided to create what I call a "proto-plant" for my first production meeting to give the team a taste of what I knew I could do with the designs. Using just scrap material from other projects, and a few ping-pong balls, I knocked out this build in just a few hours. Finally seeing this plant in 3D made this project seem even more real.

             There will be 4 puppet versions of this plant, ranging from a simple hand puppet for a very complex puppet large enough to move across the stage, and eat 3 of the 4 principle cast members. In order to prepare myself to build, and ultimately perform this monstrous character, I reached out to Martin P. Robinson, a gentleman who plays Snuffy, Telly, and a number of other characters on Sesame Street, and designed, built, and performed Audrey II for both the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Little Shop. I contacted him through his website, and he replied with a very detailed email about the plant and the materials to build her. Some could say I "freaked out", but that, too, would be a horrible understatement.
        And that brings us to the present... I get to start building in a few weeks, so as everyone is heading back to school, I'll be cramming for my big test, too! There's a great creative team that will be helping me (especially on the 4th and final plant in the show), and I'm very excited to see what we can come up with as a group. If we do our job correctly, no one will think about me sweating like crazy inside these huge puppets, but ,with any luck, be afraid that this plant might actually be hungry for them, too!