Titan theatre really showed their near professional ability when they brought the Little Shop of Horrors to life last weekend. The musical was composed of two acts, with a total run time of roughly 100 minutes of amusing jokes and gorgeous singing. The audience loved every minute, laughing at every joke and cheering after every song.
The Little Shop of Horrors takes place in 1961, in a run down community called Skid Row, where Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists, a flower shop, struggles to make ends meet. An employee named Seymour (Eli Quinones), purchases an exotic plant from an old man selling plants.
Seymour takes this exotic plant to Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists as an attraction, and it finally brings in some customers, although Mushnik (Fizzy Harman), is first skeptical at its use.
While Seymour is preoccupied with his new exotic plant, the other employee Audrey (Kiki Riggle) suffers in an abusive relationship. Seymour struggles to help the wilting plant grow, until he finally feeds it his own blood, which is where everything begins to spiral.
Riggle said that “Overall we’ve sounded great, and I think this is the most effort we’ve put into a musical in a while.”
The musical brought the energy right at the start with the Little Shop of Horrors opening song sung by the trio of street urchins named Ronnette (Sofia Lupas), Chiffon (Jemima Stephen), and Crystal (Manasvi Ganguli). Playing along each song was the Pit Band led by Gary English, the Band Director.
The live music with the actors singing added to the experience, really making it feel as if the audience was really there in Skid Row. The Pit Band also had a shorter rehearsal schedule than usual, but still made enormous progress quickly. “We got the entire show done on the first day [with the actors singing]” said Brennan Pecorino, a member of the Pit Band. Pecorino played the alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, and bass clarinet for the musical.
One challenge Maier noted was that Titan Theatre could only screw down and paint their sets after Spring Break, due to the stage’s constant use the two weeks before. “It was a little nerve wracking thinking if we could even finish it the way we wanted to, but we did, a lot of people pulled together at the last minute” Maier said.
The atmosphere of the musical was unmatched as the stage crew worked tirelessly to modify the sets in between scenes. There’s even one moment where the stage crew modifies the set as the characters are still acting, creating a moving picture on the stage.
The understudy cast was also notable for Friday’s performance where they replaced the main cast for that show. Titan Theatre’s Director Dana Maier said that “[the understudy cast] has grown into the roles, so much so that by the end they have practiced so much that they’re really strong.”
Titan Theatre’s rendition of the Little Shop of Horrors continues on April 30th and May 1st at 7:00 pm, and May 2nd at 2:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time on their website. Make sure to check out this extraordinary show before the curtains close!
