When is enough enough? Opening tonight in Balch Arena Theatre, Torn Ticket II's production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's "Little Shop of Horrors" will satire and expose just exactly how much is enough to fill the stomach of a hungry, flesh−eating, solar−flared, mutant plant.
Seymour Krelborn (freshman Ryan Willison) is the timid protagonist of the show, a klutzy employee of Mushnik's Skid Row Florists. He is also the discoverer of a man−eating plant, which he names Audrey II after his fellow employee Audrey (freshman Hanorah "Nora" Vanni), whom he has a crush on. The plant's voracious hunger fuels the show's plot as Seymour struggles to feed it, improve the business at Mushnik's Skid Row Florists and win over the love of his life.
While at first glance the horror of a plant's insatiable appetite might seem ridiculous, the show encompasses and represents a broader definition of what is terrifying and dark. Senior director Corey Briskin said the musical addresses the "concept of breaking away from consumerism and the mundane." The musical is set in the late '50s to the mid '60s and takes on the desperation of the time period through a satirical lens, attacking Faustian themes and Hollywood B−movies such as "King Kong" (1933) and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951).
The musical itself has an interesting history. The first form of the show appeared in 1960 as Roger Corman's low budget, cult−classic film. Only after 22 years, in 1982, did the film finally get adapted into an off−Broadway musical — with a film version released a couple of years later in 1986. Finally, 21 years after the off−Broadway production premiered and after which everyone predicted the show's days were over, the musical was revived on Broadway.
Despite its long history, "Little Shop of Horrors" has proved its appealing power over the decades and still maintains a cult following, especially for the character of the sadistic dentist who is Audrey's boyfriend.
The voice and body of Audrey II are played by freshmen Rashad Davis and Matthias Maier, respectively. Learning to coordinate with each other and maneuver the Audrey II puppet was one of the more interesting and challenging technicalities of the show. To make it even more complex, Maier and Davis had to learn to work with four different Audrey II puppets which represent the growth of the plant throughout the show.
Of playing only the body of a character, Maier said, "It's easy to lose track of the fact that you don't think of it as acting, but really it is a lot more than I initially thought it would be. You have to think about how the character would feel, and it's all the acting except saying the words."
Martin Robinson, the original plant designer for the off−Broadway production, created a costume that no one thought would survive. It requires the puppeteer to be over six feet tall in order to successfully operate it. A similar version of the original design is used in the Tufts show, which tests the endurance and capabilities of its manipulator. "[The performer] has to have a lot of soul about them," Briskin said. "They have to feign all this energy without saying anything or being seen. It's one of the most thankless jobs you could possibly have."
Davis has previously performed as the voice of Audrey II in a high school production, but finds differences between that experience and the one at Tufts. Davis said that in this production, "You have to dig a little farther to find the character and be in the moment."
As there is no ensemble in the show, the small, tight−knit cast of solely freshmen and sophomores has created an exciting and enjoyable environment, allowing for what freshman cast member Ryan Willison said "is some of the most fun I've had working on a show."
Tickets to performances of "Little Shop of Horrors" are free. The show runs tonight, tomorrow and Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Balch Arena Theater.
