Review: “Little Shop of Horrors”

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"Little Shop Of Horrors"

The auditorium was packed on opening night to see “Little Shop of Horrors,” the first live musical theater production since the pandemic. When the house lights finally dimmed, the audience quieted and Ronnette (Lara Joy Jusi), Crystal (Mimi O’Brien) and Chiffon (Rose Primo) opened the show with an uptempo number warning that something scary and bad was going to be happening in this story. 

The leads were played by Matthew Salas as Seymour Krelborn, Faith Lange as Audrey, Samanta Oest as Mrs. Mushnik and Christian Kelly as the dentist, Orin Scrivello.

All of the leads did an excellent job bringing their characters to life. Salas did a stellar job playing the role of the young, shy and very much in love Seymour. His acting and singing brought not only his character, but the world of the show alive, as well. Lange did a bang up job presenting her character and supporting the rest of the cast with her physical and vocal acting. The audience was wowed by the beauty of her voice, especially when she sang “Suddenly Seymour” and “Somewhere That’s Green.”

Oest showed off her incredible acting skills and had some of the audience convinced that there was an old woman actually in the play. Her duet song with Seymour, “Mushnik & Son,” was definitely one of highlights of the show, with a very well choreographed dance routine.

Kelly played the part of Dr. Srivello with so much passion and energy, that he was easily an audience favorite.

“My favorite part is the singing and the dentist. He was hilarious!” said audience member Ramona Yaloz.

“Little Shop of Horrors” is about a florist, Seymour Krelborn, who’s in love with his co-worker, Audrey. They both work for his cranky old mother, Ms. Mushnik in Mushnik’s Flower Shop, located right in the heart of the pitiful place 13-13, Skid Row. With business stagnant, Seymour decides to take it upon himself to take care of an odd looking venus fly-trap plant that he names Audrey 2 (Tranee Whitney, Julia Leopando and middle school teacher, Jake Roche). Whitney, provided Audrey 2 with powerful vocals, while Leopando and Roche manipulating the movements of the plant puppets. Audrey 2 has an unusual preferred diet.

 Alumni and students were amazed watching Audrey 2 grow.

“My favorite part is the plant, it grew a lot bigger than I expected,” said alum Russel Jafar.

Sixth grader Nani Gonzalez was also impressed with Audrey 2. “My favorite part was the last scene with the giant plant; it was really cool!” 

The audience reviews of the show were pretty positive.

“The show is amazing, I am at a loss for words, everybody is doing such a fantastic job and I’m enjoying every single bit of it,” said Yaloz.

John Kelly, whose son played the part of the dentist was blown away by both his son and the rest of the cast. “Oh it’s great! The production is amazing, the live music and the stage production,” he said.

“The show is pretty good, I think the vocals are nice,” said Jafar.

Production assistant, senior Ciara Lugo, was nervous in the hours before the show but was thrilled with how it all turned out. “I’m enjoying it so much! I have seen this show from the start and it’s been amazing how the cast members are all playing their roles exactly how they are supposed to.” 

The behind the scenes work of everyone involved didn’t go unnoticed.

“I think it’s a really good show, and I think it was really well thought out when they were thinking about designs and costumes,” said Gonzalez. 

Sophomore Vivi Chen appreciated everyone. “I love the band members, the cast, and how everyone is so cooperative! It’s really fun and beyond my expectations.”

The cast and crew worked hard and kicked it into overdrive in the weeks leading up to opening night, even missing regular classes to rehearse.

“I feel really proud of everyone on how we performed after all our hours spent on this performance,” said Luis Lema, a junior and backstage crew member. “Mr. Carroll was really caring and motivated to make this performance happen with no holding back.”