As we near May 15th, the opening night of the spring musical, excitement grows amongst the student actors and directors. All the hard work that they have done leading up to the musical is about to pay off.
This year’s spring musical is “Little Shop of Horrors” with the book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and the music by Alan Menken. The show follows shy and lovestruck flower shop worker, Seymour Krelborn, as he attempts to impress Audrey with an exotic new plant he has found. However, this plant’s food of choice is human flesh and blood, and Seymour must find a way to keep it fed one way or another. The show is bursting with humor, romance and a touch of horror to keep the audience on their toes.
Our current cast for “Little Shop of Horrors” is just as energetic and charming as the musical itself. However, not all of the cast has the same roles that they were given originally. In fact, Marko Sanchez, who plays the main character Seymour Krelborn, was originally the understudy for the dentist, Orin Scrivello.
“I was switched around a lot,” said Junior Marko Sanchez. “I was the backup dentist in the very beginning, but then the main dentist never showed up. I don’t know why he dropped out. He auditioned but then he never came to rehearsals. After that I became the main dentist until the original Seymour dropped out. That’s how I got the role I have now.”
With so many students dropping out and switches being made, it was difficult for some to adjust to their new roles. With less time to prepare and become familiar with the role, actors had to rush the process of memorizing lines and songs leaving some to be nervous for the upcoming performances.
“I’m nervous because I didn’t have as much time as I originally would’ve had to prepare,” said Sanchez. “I didn’t have enough time to practice the lines that I have now, so I kind of have to rush it now, but it’s okay. I know pretty much all of the songs now, and most of my lines too.”
Of course there are many reasons why some students dropped out in the first place ranging from other commitments, to the large responsibility that comes with having a role in a musical, to the chemistry simply not being quite right. Despite these few bumps in the road, the switches ended up being beneficial, and the actors who have stayed have shown their commitment to the show and their roles.
“I felt that it was a smooth transition because ultimately the commitment is to the performance and the experience of being in a performance,” said director Jennifer Creighton-Negron. “The commitment shouldn’t be to me. It shouldn’t be to their buddies. It should be ‘I want to be in a show, I want to be successful in a show, and I want people to see me in a show.’ That’s what the commitment should be. The folks that were able to stick it out and have a larger role, those are the folks that are committed to that.”
In order to prepare for their roles, the actors have listened to the soundtrack on repeat, gone over lines an infinite amount of times and have even been practicing a New York accent.
“I’ve been listening to the music from the show and practicing with versions that don’t have the lyrics,” said freshman understudy Brooklynn Rhodes. “I’ve been going over my lines as much as possible. For the accent I’ve been listening to people who have done the show before and that has helped me do the accent. It’s definitely better than when I first started trying it out, but it could always get better.”
There are two things that are of utter importance for an actor to do well in a show, and one of these things is emotion. Emotion is what makes the audience feel something for the actors. Without emotion, the performance isn’t believable, and the audience will not be invested in the show or the fate of the characters.
“It’s getting them into the space of ‘do it big’ that’s one of my top priorities,” said student director Jaelah Stanley. “Make me want to feel something for you and the plant. Make me want to feel sympathy that you were that dumb to let that man smack you around. You have to make it big, that’s what I keep on telling them. Otherwise you’re standing there and you get smacked around by a man for what? Come on Audrey! Getting into character is one of the things that’s really important. Sometimes I’ll be in rehearsal and there will be moments where my girls will feel the music, and I’m like ‘Yes! Do that on stage! That is what I need!’”
The second thing that is incredibly important for actors to have is confidence. Actors must have confidence if they want to sing well and project their voices well. Otherwise it is difficult for the audience to hear them, and that does not make for a very enjoyable performance. Once actors gain confidence through rehearsals, their singing will improve because they will feel like they actually know what they are doing since they have done it dozens of times already.
“It definitely gets better over time with confidence,” said Negron. “The more prepared you feel the more confident you are going to perform, and that feeling only comes with a lot of rehearsal. Through these many rehearsals I’ve watched students grow as actors, and that’s the whole point of putting on a show. Getting to watch a shy and insecure student through rehearsals, and then by the time it’s opening night, they are out there performing and feeling confident. That happens every time.”
With so many talented actors and two dedicated directors, this show is bound to be a success. The show will have four performances in total on May 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th at 6:30 PM. Tickets can be bought online for $10 each, and if you have a friend in the show, or you just want to support the drama club, then you should get your tickets now. So much hard work has been put into this show, and it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
“I just hope that a lot of students come out to see the show,” said Negron. “At the end of the day, I hope that the students who are in the show are proud of the work they’ve done, and proud of themselves.”
