Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors … a musical staged/performed by students from Cowley International College, on Friday, 25th October 2024 at the Theatre, Cowley International College, Hard Lane, St. Helens

Little Shop of Horrors is a sci-fi horror musical with a 1960s pop/rock score penned by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman … contains several well-known tunes, including ‘Skid Row (Downtown)’, ‘Somewhere That's Green’, and ‘Suddenly, Seymour’.  Seymour Krelborn is a meek and dejected assistant working at Mushnik’s Floral Shop, who happens upon a strange plant, which he affectionately names ‘Audrey II’ after his ‘crush’ at the shop. Little does he know that this strange and unusual plant has an unquenchable thirst for HUMAN BLOOD. As ‘Audrey II’ grows bigger and meaner, the carnivorous plant promises limitless fame and fortune to Seymour, as long as he continues providing a fresh supply of blood. Just when it’s too late, Seymour discovers Audrey II’s extra-terrestrial origins and its true drive for world-domination!

Production Team … Sam Westhead (Director), Corey Gerrad (MD), Claire Radford (Choreographer) had gathered an enthusiastic cast of fifty-two, all of whom, gave us the great energy and enthusiasm that had obviously been asked of them.  The performance had a frenetic feel to it and without fear of criticism, I’m going to suggest the management of this huge cast, both on and off stage, must have been a real challenge … a challenge accepted by these three with a great level of success!  What wasn’t obvious to me or many others I would suggest, was that many cast members were using this production as part of their assessment for their Performing Arts Course Examination… so, not only did they have the stresses and strains of performing live, their performance would also directly affect their course mark … double whammy or what!  With such a big cast on a relatively small stage, choreography would also have been a challenge. We had some simple yet effective routines that not only allowed the individual to shine but which set levels that played to strengths and varying abilities of everyone on stage, which isn’t easy, resulting in some really good dance routines …   be proud Clare good job!  Musical Direction was good, supporting the singers ever so well as was the overall level of direction which again looked spot on…. congrats you three… good job!  

The Cast … as stated above, we had a cast of fifty-two, all of whom worked their socks!  As most will know, this is where I usually identify MY ‘showstealer/showstopper’ and give a few shout outs to MY favourite characters… but first, I’d like to identify the entire cast …   Principals: Josh Boylan played ‘Seymour’, Nikitta Pilkington played ‘Audrey’, (Isabelle Jarvis shared this role), Libby McHugh played ‘Audrey II’, Isla Graham played ‘Mushnik’, Grace Richardson played ‘Crystal’, Grace Murphy - ‘Ronnette’, Darcy Threlfall - ‘Chiffon’, Lucas Bond - ‘Dante’, Betty Prescott - ‘Destiny’, James Rathbone-Britch played ‘Orin Scrivello’, Harmony Morris played ‘Audrey II Operator’. Support Characters/Swing : Thauane Soares – ‘Patrick Martin’, Luke Atherton – ‘Skip Snip’, Dulcie Ashton – ‘Mrs Luce’, Aimee Atherton – ‘Mrs Luce’,  Chloe Kewley – ‘Radio Announcer’,  Riley Parry – ‘Mr Bernstein’, Stefano Kakra – ‘Wino’, Natalie Ford, Archie Parry, Zachary Kewley, Elle Potter, Codie Start, Alfie Kretay, Boo Gillespie, Ruby Westwood – ‘Swing’.  Ensemble:  Emily Atherton, Luiza Cirillo Avila, Payton Davies, Holly Douglas, Ben Friar, D-J Green, Jaxon Green, Bethany Carr, Peighton-May Green, Ruby Haworth, Chloe Kinder, Lilly-Mae Leyland, Isabel Simms, Sophia McNamara-Callen, Lucy Miller, Abbie Murray, Rebecca Parry, Maddie Richardson, Neena Rigby, Jessica Roberts, Zara Samuel, Rosie Sewell, Sophie Smedley, Niamh Teale, Amelia Upton and Olivia Upton.  Time to select MY Showstealer and give a few ‘shout outs’ …  you’ll no doubt have your own ideas, but these are mine … MY ‘Showstealer’ is someone who was taking on her very first lead role, Nikitta Pilkington playing the role of ‘Audrey’, the ‘ditzy assistant’ at Mushnik’s Floral Shop … a romantic, who’s constantly being abused by her sadistic boyfriend. This isn’t the easiest of roles to play, especially for someone playing her very first lead role, but Nikitta handled it well. Great stage presence, was able to show vulnerable/forgiving side of the  character with ease. Blessed with a lovely singing voice, loved her rendition of ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ and its reprise, and the scene wrapped around the reprise, which she sang with Seymour, was a highlight for me… be very proud Nikitta. Talking about singing voices… MY first ‘shout out’ goes to Libby McHugh, who took on the role of ‘Audrey II’ in a very different way to my understanding of the norm!  The role of Audrey II is usually played as just ‘the voice from within the plant’, someone you never see until the bows… but Libby played the role stood ‘front and centre’ stage, stunningly dressed, delivering dialogue and songs like ‘CODA’ with our Greek Chorus, ‘Feed Me’ with Seymour and ‘Suppertime’ … with effortless ease ... great job Libby! Isla Graham, provided us with another good character in the form of ‘Mushnik’ our flower shop owner, a role more commonly played by a male actor, but Isla just took it and made it her own. Great stage presence, great character … be proud Isla.  Josh Boylan did a good job with ‘Seymour’ the nerdy, dorky, awkward shop assistant who’s in love with Audrey, but who is too timid to tell her. Josh created a good character who worked well with Audrey, Audrey II and the cast. Would have liked to have been taken on a bit of a journey if I’m honest from the initial ‘nerdy, shy assistant’, who can hardly speak to Audrey to the more confident character, when Audrey II provides fame and fortune. Final ‘shout out’ goes to ‘The Greek Chorus’ the narrators really, the only ones that actually know what’s going on … ‘Crystal’, ‘Ronnette’, ‘Chiffon’, ‘Dante’, ‘Destiny’ and ‘Brenda’ played Grace Richardson, Grace Murphy, Darcy Threlfall, Lucas Bond, Elizebeth Prescott and Kitty Kretay.  They opened the show with a great rendition of ‘Skid Row’ and supported the principals really well and sang many more numbers with the entire cast … be really proud folks!    

Staging/Tech … a single set was used throughout which worked well with pieces added as and when required.  With a relatively small stage space, planning would have been essential and it was, especially with the introduction of the ‘big version’ of Audrey II which did necessitate the closure of the front curtain. Exit and entry points were used well which allowed the production to flow very well … which, again, must have been a challenge with the amount of cast members exits and entries on going throughout. All this was in the capable hands of Charlotte Carroll (Stage Management) and the Set Construction Team of Jimmy Boardman and Jason Noon. Lighting/Sound was in the safe hands … Mathew Conway Set Design and LX Operator with Alec Walters on ‘follow spot’.  We did have a few ‘slow mikes’ but nothing that affected the overall production.

The Band… locked away ‘back stage’ in the ‘snuggest of spaces’ … Corey Gerrard (MD/Conductor/Keys1); Crain Mann (Keys 2) Clifford Ray (Trumpet), Sarah Dutch (Reed 1), Michael Grant (Reed 2) Paul Sanderson (Guitar), Adam Dutch (Bass), Caitlin Monaghan (Percussion) and Johnathan Rowlands/Mike McKay (Drums) … great sound that supported the cast well.

Costumes … looked really good/enhanced the production so much – under watchful eye of Sophie Edmonds

Props … again, good standard, although the head gear/mask used by Orin Scrivello was a concern making hearing/understanding what he was saying impossible… a note for the future.  

Constructive Advice... not criticism, just advice for everyone, passed on too many before, just to work on…
‘Spoken Word’ - never forget, your audience needs to hear/understand every word you say!  Diction is vital…
 if you need to speak ‘upstage’ speak louder and always project… never forget the audience!

‘Spoken Word’ – when you know your lines it’s a fabulous feeling – but just knowing the lines isn’t enough you need to include ‘light and shade’, emotion/accentuation … they are vital for dialogue to come alive …

‘Accents’ – vital tool in theatre, but make sure it doesn’t become problematic.  If using, make sure it doesn’t affect the spoken word making it hard or impossible for audience to understand what you’re saying! Make sure it’s there constantly, if you sing, try and keep the accent, not easy, if achieved - enhance performance!

‘Eye Contact’ - vital… they say ‘eyes are the window to the soul’ – ‘so true’! When you look into someone’s eyes, you should be able to tell what that person is thinking/feeling, if you can’t see them or they’re hidden under a hat or the like… you lose so much!  The ‘eye’s definitely have it’.

Once again, reading through the programme I see we have a number of students performing in their last production… Isabel Jarvis, Nikitta Pilkington, Libby McHugh, Riley Parry, Grace Richardson, Grace Murphy, Josh Boylan and Harmony Morris… can I, on behalf of myself and NODA, wish them all the success for their futures.  Thanks for inviting my wife and I and for allowing me to speak with the cast after the performance. 

We both thoroughly enjoyed the production and hope to see you all again very soon.

Stay Safe, Keep Well…
Stronger Together

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep
 

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