Little Shop of Horrors is a musical that takes place in the 1960s and is a great ‘sometimes’ family-friendly musical. Suzi Jones, staying true to her dark motif, has picked another “fun-filled-horror” musical for the high school. The musical this year was cast perfectly and features Jacob Rietveld as Seymour and Olivia Hood as Audrey. 

The opening song is sung by the Urchins who all sound very good together and have great cast chemistry. They interact with the audience well and hook the audience immediately. One thing that I did notice is that the music is sometimes louder than the actors. Even though they are wearing mics, they could use more precise diction and project more to help the audience hear. 

Hood doesn’t let her accent take over; it is just an added bonus to her character which she portrays phenomenally. Rietveld also does a great job becoming the awkward Seymour. Rietveld succeeds at making the plant Audrey 2 seem to be a living entity, not just merely a prop.

Behind the plant Audrey 2 are the three puppeteers Ronin Dennill, Sami Clark and Ky Drabek. They are very well rehearsed, and they do a great job of moving the plant to where the action is on stage. When the Voice of Audrey 2 is talking, they also do an amazing job of moving the plant’s mouth to ‘lip sync’ to the words. The voice of Audrey 2 is voiced by Kolton Messer, who does a great job of voice acting as the plant. The interaction between Messer and Rietveld when Seymour and the plant are talking or even singing is very entertaining, and you can’t help but laugh.

Grant Anderson plays Orin Scrivello DDS, and even though he is on stage for a short time, he is a very memorable character that leaves a lasting impression on the audience. His movements are intentional, helping develop his character or adding to the physical comedy of the musical. 

Rietveld’s character has an internal conflict throughout the entire musical and struggles with a lot of different problems with Audrey 2. He struggles with either feeding the plant other characters in the musical or sacrificing his relationship with Audrey. 

Instead of the traditional three Urchins, this production has six, which was a creative direction that I think improved the musical! The Urchins are Lucille Hopkins, Aleigha Ausman, Braelyn Ensor, Bethany Schreur, Tatum Carlstone, and Josephine McDonald. I couldn’t imagine the musical any other way. All six Urchins have great chemistry with Seymour, Mr. Mushnick, and Audrey. They move the story along very well and are always entertaining.

This musical comes with a lot of props and a lot of big scene changes with Audrey 2. While I know how difficult moving props can be, (I was in the crew for Addams Family two years ago), there has to be a way to make the changes go faster. The audience quickly lost interest, and it took them a few minutes to win the audience back. Would more crew members help, or could even more of the cast pitch in?

The ensemble does a great job of blending their voices when they need to, but each stood out as individuals. Everyone sounded and looked amazing. The entire cast as a whole has great chemistry, and they all worked together very well. The people in the back of the booth did a great job with all of the lighting and sounds that came with the production. The musical was close to perfection, and I highly recommend you come and see it these next three days. But be warned! Don’t feed the plants!