Enthusiastic performers are invited to soon head to Delta Center Stage for the auditions of their next musical production, “Little Shop of Horrors.”
“Little Shop of Horrors” is a sci-fi musical comedy about a meek floral shop assistant, Seymour, who stumbles upon and purchases a unique plant he’s never before seen. With a crush on his co-worker, Audrey, Seymour names the new plant Audrey II, but it doesn’t take long before he realizes there is something amiss about the new plant.
This will be the first time in DCS history to perform “Little Shop of Horrors,” which has devoured theater-goers’ hearts for more than 30 years.
With the music composed by Alan Menken and lyrics and a book written by by Howard Ashman, this musical is sure to capture the hearts of audience members.
“We are very excited to be producing this perennial favorite for the first time in our 41 years of staging plays. There is a fairly straightforward reason it has been so long in coming, and that has to do with cost. ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ will be one of the most expensive investments in production and licensing costs that we have ever made, which is always risky when it comes to paying the bills. If you are going to do this show the right way, then you are going to have to invest literally thousands of extra dollars in securing the Audrey II puppet effects,” Delta Center Stage Executive Director Tim Bixler said.
One of the unique needs for this production, Bixler said, is multiple puppeteers to handle the plant, which goes through growing stages throughout the show. Described as a cross between a Venus Flytrap and an avocado, Audrey II is a bloodthirsty plant that starts in a small potted plant and grows to enormous size by the end of the show.
“I have seen this show before done on-the-cheap and it just isn’t the same as seeing the professionally built, authentic set of Audrey II puppets that originated on Broadway. Seeing all of this happen will easily be worth the price of admission alone, so we are confident and hopeful that box office will cover these extraordinary costs,” Tim Bixler said.
Auditions are set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12-13 and 3:30 p.m. Dec. 14 in the rehearsal hall at Delta Center Stage. This show is open to mature teenagers and adults.
Although the principal cast comprises four women and four men, there will be several chorus parts and minor singing roles.
Show director Sonya Bixler said although this is the first time for DCS to put on the show, it’s a musical she directed three times at Washington School.
Bixler said there is a role for everybody and she is looking for people who are ready to have fun.
“People need to come audition and have fun. Don’t let at this as a nervous situation, this show is all about getting out with your neighbors and having a good time,” she said. “We’re really interested in people who are expressive with her reading and singing. If they can carry a tune and project their voices, that’s what we’re looking for.”
The description of the principal cast of characters are:
* Seymour: In his mid-20s and perhaps balding a little, this insecure, naive, put-upon, florist’s clerk hero. Above all, he’s a sweet and well-meaning little man. He is not a silly, pratfalling nerd, and therefore should not be played as the hero of a Jerry Lewis film.
* Audrey: The bleached-blond, Billie-Dawn-like, secret love of his life. If a someone took Judy Holiday, Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe, and Goldie Hawn, removed their education and feelings of self-worth, dressed them in spiked heels and a low-cut black dress, and then shook them up in a test tube to extract what’s sweetest and most vulnerable — that’d be Audrey.
* Mr. Mushnik: Seymour and Audrey’s boss, Mr. Mushnik is a failure of an East Side florist. His accent, if he has one, is more that of middle-class New York than of Eastern Europe. He seldom smiles but often sweats.
* Orin: A tall, dark, handsome dentist with a black leather jacket and sadistic tendencies. Imagine an egotistical pretty-boy- all got up like a greaser but thinking like an insurance salesman and talking like a radio announcer.
* The Plant (Audrey II): An anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado. It has a huge, nasty looking pod which gains a shark-like aspect when open and snapping at food. The creature is played by a series of four increasing large puppets, manipulated by puppeteers.
* Voice of Audrey II: Provided by an actor on an offstage microphone, it is important this actor have clear visual access to the puppets onstage to provide accurate lip-synch. The sound is a cross between Otis Redding, Barry White, and Wolfman Jack.
* Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon: Three female street urchins who function as participants in the action and a Greek Chorus outside it. They’re young, hip, smart, and the only people in the whole cast who really know what’s going on. In their “Greek Chorus” capacity, they occasionally sing to the audience directly.
The show is set to perform Feb. 27-March 1.
For more information, visit deltastage.com.
