Sales of Venus flytraps are going to drop at B&Q following this fabulous production of Little Shop Horrors by Cwmbran High School.
I’ve seen those little plants and been tempted to pop one in my basket but not anymore. Last night was the first show for the young cast and I felt they all grew in confidence every minute, similar to how we saw Audrey II grow in size throughout the evening.
Each cast member’s presence seemed stronger as the man-eating plant continued its plan for world domination. It was lovely to see and I feel they may be a bit distracted during today’s classes as they will be buzzing for tonight’s curtain to go up again at 7pm.
The curtain opened in Mr Mushnik’s florist in Skid Row. The opening songs and storyline quickly showed us this may not be the best location to sell flowers. It took a bit of luck from Seymour (Dylan Williams) to come across an unusual plant and make it famous, attracting customers from far and near.
Dylan’s awkward body language, accent and facial expressions matched the role of Seymor perfectly. He went from sweeping floors in the opening scene to sweeping Audrey’s (Mia Jenkins) off her feet.
Audrey’s (Mia Jenkins) strong songs, lines and stage presence in the first half perfectly built up the picture of someone who we all wanted to feed to Audrey II, her boyfriend Orin (Amy-Jayne Brown). Audrey appeared in each early scene with a new injury or something else to make us keep our fingers crossed she would soon spot Seymour. We secretly cheered inside seeing Audrey’s self-esteem rise in the second half.
Mr Mushnik’s (Alfie Matthews) enjoyed seeing his shop go from bankruptcy to success so much that he asks Seymour to be his son through a very funny song with great timing.
No spoilers, but Orin’s (Amy-Jayne Brown) final song while taking in laughing gas, well it had me laughing and summed up this lovely tongue-in-cheek comedy.
Crystal (Mia Magill), Ronette (Mikka Todd) and Chiffon (Indayha Kendall) sang and danced together, had lines on their own, and suddenly appeared at parts of the show that needed extra emotion or humour. Their partnership went right through to the encore with a choreographed thank-you to each other.
Tyler Groten took the part of Audrey II’s voice and rose to the challenge of singing duets without that all-important eye contact used by those on stage. We finally got to see him at the end of the show when he suddenly ran through the audience and jumped on stage to join the applause with the rest of the cast.
And finally, a mention for Cailen Franklin, Preston Hewitt and Oliver Carter. They played Audrey II as it grew from a hand puppet to a man-eater with a cheeky smile. Again, like Tyler, these three had to know the lines and roles of their fellow cast members so well to fit the crucial comic timing of the famous plant. Well done!
School productions take a huge team effort from so many people on and off stage. The cast and staff give so many hours outside the school timetable to produce shows like this.
It’s on for two more nights. Pop along and show your support for live theatre on our doorstep.
Tickets for Little Shop of Horrors
Click here to get tickets for tonight’s (12 July) or tomorrow’s (13 July) shows.
The cast
- Seymour- Dylan Williams
- Audrey- Mia Jenkins
- Audrey II (voice)- Tyler Groten
- Crystal- Mia Magill
- Ronette- Mikka Todd
- Chiffon- Indayha Kendall
- Orin- Amy-Jayne Brown
- Mr Musknik- Alfie Matthews
- Plant operators- Cailen Franklin, Preston Hewitt and Oliver Carter
- Skip/ Mr Martin – Ellen Marsh
- Customer 1 – Mason Edmunds
- Customer 2 – Luc Hopkins
- Wino – Tyler-Jay Perot
- Radio Interviewer – Stanley Wolverson
- Botanist – Scarlett Walker
The crew
- Producer- Paul Osborne
- Directors- Paul Osborne and Cerys Rennocks
- Musical Director- Paul Osborne
- Assistant Musical Director- Oliver Edwards
- Sound Engineers- Paul Osborne, Sam Miller and Oliver Edwards
- Lighting Engineers- Evie Miller, Sam Miller, Oliver Edwards and Claire Brewster
- Set Design- Paul Osborne
- Set Construction- John (Jiff) Powell