Little Shop of Horrors

HHS Theatre performs legendary musical next week

Theatergoers can step into a world straight from the Broadway stage next week during the Hahnville High School production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Follow a down-and-out floral assistant as he becomes a sensation by discovering an exotic plant with a craving for fresh blood.

“It mocks bad horror movies, which you don’t tend to see in musical theatre,” said Megan Harms, production director and Talented Theatre teacher.

For Michael Jones, a junior who will play the lead role of Seymour, this play has been a long time coming.

“My mom loved the movie – she watched it every day she was pregnant with me,” Jones said. “I basically came out of the womb singing Little Shop of Horrors.”

This is Jones’ first time playing a title character and he said he is excited to take his own bow.

Junior Kate Prendergast will play Audrey, Seymour’s love interest. To prepare, Prendergast spent all summer memorizing and singing the play’s soundtrack.

“This play is so different – it’s a really unique love story,” she said.

The show-stopper is the man-eating, talking, R&B-singing plant, Audrey II.

The part is played by an authentic Broadway puppet manned by senior Samuel Eastepp with John Brown as the voice.

“She’s got a very crude, sick sense of humor,” Eastepp said about the plant character.

Audrey II is bent on world domination and spends most of the play bribing and enticing Seymour to help her.

This will be Eastepp’s first attempt at puppeteering and he said he is excited about the challenge.

“It’s very challenging to translate physical moves (with the puppet) into acting,” he said.

Acting rehearsals began in December for cast members and other theatre students began building the sets this month.

The musical was originally written by Howard Ashman and composed by Alan Menken – both of whom went on to create major Disney movies such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Alladin.”

“You can kind of tell it’s them in the music,” Harms said. “A family could come and be swept up into theatre magic.”

She said that while the movie of the same name gives the story a “Hollywood” ending, the play does not.

“If you only know the movie, come see the show and see it the way it was originally intended,” Harms said.

Jones agreed that the musical differs greatly from the movie.

“The play has a lot of really cool stuff that’s not in the movie,” Jones said.

Although the play does not have a rating, Harms said she believes it would be similar to a PG movie.

“I don’t think it’s anything that will give kids nightmares, but keep in mind that the plant wants to eat dead people,” she said, laughing.

Other students starring in the play include Dillon Tauzin as Orin, Heather Bergeron as Crystal, Ellen Suss as Chiffon, Samantha Kennedy as Ronnette and Austin Breaux as Mushnik. Lucas Harms also teaches theatre at HHS and designed the set for the production.

Performances are scheduled for Jan. 26, Jan. 27, Feb. 3 and Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. each night in the HHS Auditorium. The production will feature professional lights and sound as well as concessions. Advance tickets are $10 and can be ordered by emailing mharms@stcharles.k12.la.us. Tickets can also be purchased at the door and cost $15 for adults and $10 for children.

“If we can sell every single seat, that would be awesome,” Harms said.