‘Little Shop’ opens tonight

Production features two seniors combining to bring iconic bloodthirsty plant to life

Senior+Philip+Robinson%2C+junior+Jenna+Boyd+and+freshman+Nate+Courtney+pose+around+Audrey+II%2C+the+plant+from+Little+Shop+of+Horrors.

Allyson Squires

Senior Philip Robinson, junior Jenna Boyd and freshman Nate Courtney pose around Audrey II, the plant from Little Shop of Horrors.

A hopeless romantic florist, a bloodthirsty plant, a solar eclipse and lots of singing and dancing will be on display this weekend at the Stuver Auditorium, as the theatre department presents “Little Shop of Horrors.”

The tale centers around Seymour (senior Phillip Robinson), a florist who works at a rundown flower shop in Skid Row. Belittled daily by the shop’s owner, Mr. Mushnik, Seymour purchases an odd plant form a strange street vendor in order to bring fame to himself and the shop.

He names the strange plant Audrey II (senior Julian Johnson and senior Aiden Kuseski) after his crush and fellow co-worker Audrey Fulquard (junior Jenna Boyd).

But things quickly get out of hand as Seymour realizes nourishment for Audrey II goes beyond the typical water and sunlight for ordinary plants.

Unique to this show, it takes two different students to perform the role of Audrey II. Julian Johnson is the voice of Audrey II offstage, and Aiden Kuseski is on stage maneuvering the plant apparatus. The students had different opinions on the difficulty of the role.

“Julian is offstage and he sees me and it’s really my call to open the mouth and he goes off of my movement; it’s not really complicated,” Kuseski said.

Johnson said the role is challenging even though he’s not seen by the audience.

“I’m not on stage, it’s just my voice so that’s going to be complicated for me,” Johnson said. “I have to do a lot of voice work and I have to make my voice deeper. It’s been a really hard task for me.”

Two different people coming together to form one character may seem to be a challenge to put together, but the director Brad Durio said he’s been able to make everything come together with a talented crew.

“I’ve had a blast working with the group,” Durio said. “We have some incredibly talented students in this production that have helped put it together. Steve DeCrow, the choir director, has done a fantastic job of working with them on their music and everything sounds and looks great.”