November 21- 24 marks an exciting time for the Prior Lake High School theater cast and crew when they perform the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
For some context, Little Shop of Horrors is a musical that follows Seymour Krelborn, a florist running a struggling shop on Skid Row. He discovers and cares for Audrey II, an unusual plant that leads to unexpected fame and success, but not without severe consequences.
The show is an interesting one because it includes a huge, man-eating plant puppet named Audrey II. To show Audrey II’s growth as a plant takes eight different props and four different puppets – from Audrey 2.1 through 2.4.
The first two versions of Audrey II are hand puppets controlled by Inga Craig and DJ Carrigan. The smallest plant version, Audrey 2.1, sits on a counter, and Inga controls the motions from below. The next version, Audrey 2.2, is controlled by DJ, who plays the main character Seymour Krelborn, as he holds the plant in his hands and controls it from within a jacket.
PLHS theater bought the larger Audrey 2.3 and 2.4 versions from another theater company. The PL puppeteers and props staff worked to revitalize them for our show. They added more bumps and veins to Audrey 2.4. They also repainted everything and added leaves and vines which took several weeks to perfect.
Different from any other musical performed at PLHS, the puppeteers work hard to control the various iterations of Audrey II. For Audrey 2.3, Abby Johnson and Lydia Chalekian are inside with one controlling the vines and one controlling the mouth. For the full-grown version, Audrey 2.4, all the puppeteers (seven in total) control it from within. All the others, plus Lauren Adams, Gabriella Frye, Berit Schulz, and Ava Wirtz use every bit of strength to move the giant head and mouth to match the voice and singing.
Audrey II is voiced by Leo Choi, and the puppeteers inside are tasked with moving the plant to match Leo’s vocal performance. Sheri Brunner, the show’s Production Manager, adds, “The synchronization of Leo’s voice with the puppeteers is pretty slick. The plan really comes to life and Leo’s voice is amazing!”
Audrey 2.4 also eats people like Seymour, Audrey (the human), and Mr. Mushnik. The puppeteers open the giant mouth, and the “victim” steps into it and onto the lip of the lower jaw which is safe to stand on. From there, the mouth closes and the actor dives under the tongue and crawls out from underneath.
Trying to match Leo’s singing and speaking lines takes lots of practice. Also, it’s the first time the actors have worked with puppetry, so making sure the earlier versions of Audrey II are expressive has been a challenge. One rule in acting is to never turn your back on the audience, and with puppets, the same rule holds true. The actors have worked hard on perfecting their positioning and puppetry.
Leo voices the monstrous plant, also known as Audrey II. What initially attracted him to this role was the original voice of Audrey II from the Broadway musical and the movie that came out in 1986. Leo shares that the “voice was extremely fun to mimic,” which later on encouraged him to practice and audition for the part.
While the show includes many fun characters to play, the audition process was no simple task. Before the audition, Leo listened to the musical’s soundtrack as a way to further understand the “why” of each song and how it related to not only his character but the entirety of the play. Once audition day arrived, Leo and others sang and danced in front of the directors of the play.
In preparation for the show, the rehearsal process typically includes three-hour daily practices. The final week, known as tech week, includes an all-day rehearsal that runs from 8 am to 6 pm. In these rehearsals, the cast rehearses the show three times, with complete stage makeup and costumes. After tech week is finished, opening week begins!
Come see Little Shop of Horrors this week!
When: November 21, 22, 23 at 7:00 pm and November 24 at 2:00 pm
Where: 7575 150th St West, Savage MN
Tickets: Students $8 / Adults $11
