It was a long time coming, but the WGHS Theater Department finally decided to tackle the brilliant musical comedy/horror Little Shop of Horrors. The department had done the show before, most recently in 2002 (the year before Mr. Schaefer started teaching at Webster).
This time, we were extremely fortunate to have found someone getting rid of the entire set of Audrey II puppets in Deccatur, IL and the package included some other stuff needed to produce the show. Without having to build everything from scratch, we felt we had a better chance at finding success in the short amount of time we had to get the show to the stage.
Bex Derr's poster design, which was also used for the ECHO insert
AUDITIONS
We held auditions in August for both of the main stage shows this year due to the smaller size of both casts. The musical didn't plan to go into rehearsal until Nov. Auditions required every student to sing and act. They all received a number, got their pic taken and did a song/monologue audition first day. It was in the auditorium.
There was a specific audition day for the musical. That day we tested the students on songs from the show and some monologue/scene work. We had a nice turn out and were able to put an actor in each of the roles. As always, it quickly becomes clear who should be put in what role. The cast fell into place. Mrs. Dickens, Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Davis were the casting table.
The Crew was selected after everyone signed up to work on a show at the first general meeting of the year. Once we got the Rumor's crew picked we placed everyone in crews for Little Shop. Of course we always are adding people to do jobs as we get closer and closer to opening.
THE CAST
The URCHINS
Martha Poppen (Ronnett) Mimi Mueller (Chiffon) Cami Campbell (Crystal)
Carl Ellis (Mr Mushnick) Parker Collier (Orin/Dentist) Luca Thies (Seymour)
Kaitlyn Patten (Audrey) Teddy Woldow (Voice Audrey II) Sophia Monaco (Audrey II puppet)
Casey Drilingas was the puppeteer for Plant #3
and performed the song "Feed Me/Get It"
Luca and Casey worked great together, Audrey II really came to life for the audience during this song. Casey used his entire body in Plant #3 and even had vines for his legs
that helped articulate and gesture.
REHEARSALS
Rehearsals began with Mr. Davis teaching "Little Shop" and "Skid Row" to the cast so that we could use those songs as an anchor to the production and give the cast some ownership of the story/characters right from the beginning.
Right from the very beginning we could tell that this cast was something very special. They sounded amazing and worked really hard from day one.
The cast met in the choir room a little in Nov and a couple of times in Dec
trying to get as much of the Act I music learned as we could.
Kaitlyn Patten (Audrey) getting her score highlighted
The cast were all given a water bottle at the very beginning of the process in hopes they would drink a lot of water and stay healthy during the rehearsals. Each person picked a different sticker from the show to tell the bottles apart.
THE MUSIC
The show track system was purchased in Dec and we shifted gears to the Blackbox and the cast learned the remaining songs on their phones using the system to hear their individual parts played for them. We would then use the rehearsals for staging and blocking efforts.
Teddy working on the closing number with the cast
It was really nice to have a large Technical Theater Class to help with the set build. They spent only a couple of days on the build and we had the walls up and enough established to really allow the cast to find their way in the blocking. The show moves really fast.
Seymour is working out the plan to kill the plant
This was the absolute hardest working group of three actors the department has seen in awhile.
They spent so much time on their roles and it showed in the end. The audience loved them.
The characters, the dancing and the harmonies were perfect!
Parker Collier played many roles in the show,
and had to change voices and costumes
(a lot in Act II).
Luca and Parker performing "It's a Gas"
The Dentist chair was provided through a trade with Lindberg HS Theater
Parker Collier played a total of 7 characters in the course of the evening!!!
This role was written to really show off an actor's range and abilities. Parker was definitely the right man for the job. The way he would pull the audience into the moment was awesome to watch each night with energy that was unbeatable. Parker's voice was perfect for the "Elvis inspired" song, ut his infectious laughter added comedy to his death in "It's a Gas". He then pulled out a bunch of fun accents for all of his characters in Act II.
Sophia Monaco was the actor/puppeteer for Plant #1 and Plant #4
She made several initial repairs to the puppets when we first started and then spent many hours practicing the puppet's blocking to make it all look real for the audience each night.
Sophia is a huge fan of this show and she brought an amazing amount of knowledge about the puppets and a great deal of energy into the process. Everyone had a hard time keeping up with her enthusiasm for the work. Sophia was a real professional!
Luca and Sophia worked well together on this song.
Once we were in the Auditorium and go to play on the actual set we were really able to find the flow in each scene. Many of the set changes happened while scenes played in front of the main drape.
BLOCKING and STAGING
This was a really fun show to stage and the scenes really allowed the actors to play and find their way. The death of each character and getting it to work with the biggest puppet took time to figure out, but once we got it to line up, it looked great!
Mr. Schaefer working with Kaitlyn and Luca in their last scenes
The scenes at the end of the musical move fast and create a huge sense of urgency
Audrey's death is unique in that she is first tricked
and then offers herself as a sacrifice
The stage pictures we created with each death really made the scenes fun for the audience
Luca, Kaitlyn and Carl had such amazing chemistry by the time they opened the show
Parker and Luca had many scenes together and they too had amazing chemistry!
The URCHINS striking a pose during one of the last numbers in the show.
Mrs. Dicken's choreographed all of the Urchin stuff but these three amazing actors also assisted in creating some of their choreo as well.
It was a full team effort getting everything finished in time.
The 4th Hour Technical Theater class
built and trimmed the set.
It took a little over a week of class time and they had the whole set standing and the door hung. Little things were finessed as we moved closer and closer to opening night. We actually didn't get all of the detail painting finished until the Friday performance. It wasn't a complicated set design, but it did require us to make specific routes for the bigger plant puppets to hide behind the set and move easily into place each time Audrey II grew.
Ellis and Connor worked on finishing up the last bit of trimming after school
Once we got the final paint job on the flower shop it looked great!
We had most of the furniture and set dressings in stock and didn't have to hunt much down.
The final set gave the audience a run down city landscape that worked great as "Skid Row" and we even had a city scape behind the flower shop to help push the big city feel.
SOUND OPERATIONS
Freya Adkinsson was on the sound board and levelled the cordless mics, the backstage mic, and added some atmospheric sounds like sirens etc. The sound was great. She never missed a beat and when there was an issue she solved it. Everyone sounded great and the audience said they could hear everything. 
We set for 10 lavs and only used 8
Hank Yau was on the track system and organized, timed and played all of the instrumental tracks for the show. This was a tedious and slightly stressful job for a student to take on and he did it brilliantly! the cast loved having Hank on the sound system. He made it look so easy. This show had a ton of cues and everything had to be timed just right. Way to go Hank!LIGHTING
The stage lights were hung in our normal musical plot with downstage acting areas breaking the stage into three areas and then making sure their was a backlight for each of those areas. However, we also had to accomplish the divide between the interior of the flower shop and the street/sidewalk outside of the shop.
James Duckett was the student lighting designer on the show and he worked really hard getting the instruments hung/colored and focused before we were even able to think about levels and cues. The design also included several practicals on stage (over the counter and on the front stoop of the store).
Audrey and Seymour during "Call Back in the Morning"
We used some addition instruments from the ceiling of the house to get lights focused onto the apron of the stage and we kept those a true white while lighting the flower shop in an amber light. This helped break the two areas apart. The actors who were "outside" seemed to glow differently, like they were in the sunlight.
The URCHINS (Cami, Mimi and Martha) and Mushnick (Carl)
on the park bench listening to Seymour's interview
The final looks we were able to achieve offered the audience a colorful and sometimes scary light show that really leaned into the cartoon aspects of this comedy/horror musical.
CURTAIN OP
Jalen Reed was our Curtain puller for the show and it was his first time backstage for a production. He did an amazing job and never missed a cue.
We used the main drape in the show to divide the stage in half and allow the backstage crew to redress the set several different times during the run. Mostly to move the plants in and out while certain scenes took place in front to distract the audience.FOLLOW SPOT OPERATORS
In the crow's nest we had three spot ops that worked together to cover all of the lighting requirements. Two had done a show with us already and one was new to the biz.
Austin Minute Connor Long Easton Woldow
They organized all of the spot cues and during the cue to cue rehearsals really took the opportunity to make plans on who was taking which cue in order to plan for breaks between cues for each operator.
We had a lot of help on the costumes and the team worked really hard to make it all come together in the end. The cast looked great and the characters really came to life on stage.
Her skillset is amazing and she even repaired machines as they stopped working and encountered problems due to the glitter. Mostly she spent time completing the URCHIN's final looks designed by Daun Pawlicki.
Martha Poppen and Mimi Mueller
Parker, Luca and Kaitlyn in the scene before the Dentist gets it!
We also had several students assist in the painting.
PROPS
Nate Tevlin was on the Fly Gallery and flew in the two sets of vines that were tied to a baton.
Norris Baker designed table tents for the library tables and her handmade designs were fabulous.
Lots of trouble in the flower shop!
Mrs. Luce was not going to take NO for an answer!
Ellen and Colin took the "MVT" award
Maloy (left) and Daun at JoAnne Fabrics with Mr Schaefer getting dress making stuff
We got a shopping trip in right before winter break and picked out the fabric and notions for the Urchin's final dresses. They were built entirely from scratch and Daun even designed them from scratch, creating a 60's inspired pattern for each actor.
Maloy Gordon offered assistance/support in the design room and with some help from Ellie and Luka Coogan they finished all of the costumes on time.
The URCHIN's final look was stunning!
Martha, Cami and Mimi on the steps at the very end of the show!
Willow Sinclair and Margo Oliphant managed the costumes and offered assistance with the costume changes during the show. They kept the rack organized and made sure we had everything each night.
Luca had several pieces to his costume and also had to wear one of the puppets during "You Never Know". The shirt and hand are a trick to allow Luca to operate the puppet during the song.
The three URCHINS all were dressed in a different color scheme that worked well in keeping them individuals but also brought them together like a Greek chorus.
HAIR and MAKE-UP
Mrs. Dickens helped out a lot with the hair and make-up on this show. Kaya Wolf also assisted with many of the looks.
Of course Earl made an appearance during the run
and interviewed the cast/crew for our Instagram posts
The cast was small and it allowed everyone some time to get ready without getting too cramped in the dressing room. These were broader characters and it gave us an opportunity to play with aging, stylized hair, and of course some bruise application on Audrey.
Mr. Mushnick was an older Jewish man and Carl didn't even look like himself in the end.
We made use of the dressing room each night to prep hair
and some actors even came to school with show hair prepped.
Ellen, George, Cami, Mimi, Mrs. Dickens, Kaitlyn all getting ready before the show.
Mrs. Dickens even ordered a set of GoGo boots for the urchins last look
THE PLANT PUPPETS
This is such a unique show. There are not many out there that require you to use so many puppets of different sizes and styles. Each puppet was so different and operated in it's own special way. The cast worked very hard to get all of them to work right for the moment they appeared in a scene. Some were used in several scenes and some were only used in one song and were never seen again.
Plant Puppet #1 - operated by Sophia Monaco was used in the song "Grow for me"
The puppeteers were added to the process in stages and we started working with the actual puppets in January and as we staged a scene we tried to incorporate the puppets when we blocked the scene. Sometimes we would use a rehearsal puppet just to get the blocking figured out.
Plant Puppet #2 - was operated by Luca and was used in the song "You Never Know"
Plant Puppet #3 - was operated by Casey Drilingas and was used in the song "Feed Me/Get It"
This was the first of the Audrey II puppets to be voiced by Teddy from backstage.
Casey spent many rehearsals inside the puppet with headphones on listening to a track of Teddy signing and voicing the scene so that he could line up the mouth with Teddy's interp of the lines.
Casey spent the whole time on stage hidden in the puppet.
The Plant Puppet #4 was the largest of the puppets and Mrs. Dickens worked really hard hand cutting and gluing felt onto the lips. This added to the new tone and gave the puppet a cool alien vibe.
We also had several students assist in the painting. Abi Davidson came in during he IP period and really gave the plant some fun texture.
The largest puppet also had to have other pieces created to help sell the final look.
We constructed a skirt of leaves and vines that the plant rested on top of, and this provided a little cushion for the puppet when it had to be voiced by Sophia backstage.
River Padilla and Kade Leatherbarrow helping with the plant
We also created a bunch of vines that came out for the last few scenes
that required an additional four puppeteers backstage.
Austen Sparks (vibe puppeteer), Sophia Monaco (Audrey II), Connor Long (Spot Light), Charlotte Jennings, Luka Coogan (sign maker) and Kade Leatherbarrow (clock puppeteer)
The final song "Don't Feed the Plant" had the leads in these headpieces as they sang
Mr. Schaefer working out the last bit of the show
with the leads in their head pieces and the vine operators backstage.
We had a dream team with properties this time around. They did such an amazing job organizing and preparing the props before and after each run. It is rare that you have two students hop into new roles in a production and just absolutely knock it out of the park like these two did.
Colin Nicholl and Ellen Luecke
They worked as the show's Deck Chiefs and together they made sure that every single prop (and there were quite a few) was taken care of, stayed intact, was fixed when broken, was preset on the stage or table, and then was immediately returned to its starting position after the run ended.
The maps for all of the scene changes
They ran a very fast crew, failed forward and the scene changes were brilliant. We also had help from Eva Henry, Willow Sinclair, and some of the vine puppeteers.
Stage right prop tables Stage left prop tables
The final scene's three handheld plant #5 props Audra Brocco's magazine cover
The box of poison Seymour feeds the plant made by Austen and Charlotte
Orin (The Dentist) had a lot of props he used in the show
Kade Leatherbarrow made a trick clock for the set and the show requires the use of this unusual stage prop. The clock must move on its own to show a passing of time in several scenes of the show. Kade did a great job making the prop and also puppeteering the clock from backstage during the run. It was not an easy job and Kade made it look effortless. Together with the spot ops, they made the moments work.
The shop's sign was a group effort Mrs. Dicken's magazine cover design
Luka Coogan designed the sign that flipped over the set at the end of "Closed for Renovations"
Two students from tech theater figured out how to make the sign flip over the wall using 4 door hinges and forming a sort of "Jacob's ladder".
Eva Henry was responsible for the flipping of the sign at the end of the song. She also helped the stage managers during rehearsals and worked backstage; helped with scene changes, props management and foley sound effects during the run of the show. Eva is a senior and has helped with backstage work on several productions now. She is a hardworking individual who is a wonderful asset to any team!
She also designed the desk logo for the flowershop...
Eva hand painted her original logo as well.
THE VINES
For the very last few scenes in the show you have to fly in vines and cover the set with vines. The plant has to take over everything. The 4th Hour tech class got them started and then Ellen Leuke and George Lemcke took over the paper vines that would go on the set.
Eva Henry and several others tackled the yarn and silk vines the were
This was Nate's first time on the fly gallery and the last time we will do a show in this space with our current system. Next year we will have a brand new fly system and we will be saying goodbye to the old counter-weight system.
ATMOSPHERICS
Julian Pool and Robby Conroy provided some fog for us in the last moment of the show. I love this effect and it just added so much to the look of the last song. The two of them hid backstage and shot as much fog as they could around the big plant and the actors who were singing on stage.
THE BACK STAGE BOOTH
The stage right area right behind the proscenium arch we had a place for the crews to prep props and provide sound effects. Teddy also voiced the plant from this mic.
Willow Sinclair was the Stage Left manager.
Some of the foley (live sound effects) we provided was a bell every time the door to the shop opened, a classroom bell "ding" when the plant did it's magic on people (mostly Parker's characters), and some burps from the big plant. Several people used this space during the show and it kept them close to the action.
The booth contained a noise maker, classroom bell, and microphone
PR MARKETING
PR MARKETING
Daun Pawlicki discovered an old slide of the poster/T-shirt design Carrie Clark did for the 2002 production and Teddy Woldow drew out a version inspired that design. Mr Schaefer then went into the drawing and added some details and cleaned up the artwork.
We used the design for our T-shirt and...
....the program cover.
THE BANNER TEAM
Anna Dorsey, Mackenzie Miller, Charlotte Snell and Samantha Arnold
The artists used the projector and some logo art we paid for through our licensing.
They drew out and painted the logo in the (table cloth) banner.
It was a very colorful design.
It was fun to see two seniors do their last banner for us and also show two new artists the ropes.
Thank you Anna and Mackenzie for so many wonderful banners!
SENIOR DISPLAY CASE
Joseph Kiesling designed and prepared the Marquee at Senior Entrance
The final look was awesome and it definitely helped sell tickets.
This was Joseph's second display for us!
THE LIBRARY TABLE TENTS
They definitely got people taking about the show and really stood out!
They also made a slide for announcements...
We got a mention in the Webster Groves SD newsletter!!!
SHOW PICS
Kaya Wolf provided a most of the pictures used in this blog page.
Audrey's bruise was applied by Kaya Wolf, Costume was repaired and helmed by Ellie Blanton. Hair was done by Kaitlyn's Mom and Mrs. Dickens.
The "Mushnick Florist" sign on the desk was designed and hand-painted by Eva Henry.
Carl, Luca and Kaitlyn made a great team!
Everything was going fine until the plant arrived.
It only took one customer to get the ball rollin'
We purchased over 15 different kinds of fake flowers for the show,
and we also used a ton of the silks we had in stock.
SOOOO MANY FLOWERS!!!
Ladies...I'm not a monster!
Parker had all the right moves for this role!
"Kiss me quick".... "Don't make me sick!"
You're not scared to have your teeth examined are ya?
Not the dentist visit Seymour thought it would be...
It's stuck!
The dentist had to die!
Our Greek chorus...or were they the fates?
Mushnick had to go next...he knew too much.
Hid the money in the plant? Really?
Get ahold of yourself Seymour...you're crackin' up!
NOOOOO AUDREY!!!
Don't get to close to the plant, it's hungry!
Classic 1950's horror film image!
This is a finale like no other
DON'T FEED THE PLANT!!!
Look out!
Here comes Audrey II
An Amazing Cast and Crew
Congrats on a great show everyone!
Teddy was an excellent student director and lead this team to a huge success!
Most tickets sold in 9 years
CURTAIN CALL!!!
PRODUCTION AWARDS
and
Cami Smith took home the Thespian Pig
MIMI SAYS,
"GO SEE A MUSICAL!!!"
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