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Little Shop of Horrors Preview |
“Downtown…where the folks are broke…downtown where your life’s a joke…” For those who have heard the amazing lyrics of the Little Shop of Horrors musical, the tune will remain ever implanted in their minds. The El Segundo Dram Department will be recreating the musical, which will be the first musical to come to the high school in over a decade.
The
cast is under the direction of student director, Sophomore, Maryann
Colella, who is in charge of directing, staging, and choreography for the
musical. The musical will debut on Thursday, May 30 and will continue
through June 1. So far, the
cast has finished about one-third of the musical, and Colella stated that
she is starting to feel the pressure of the musical. She said, “”I’m
pretty much pulling my hair out!” Colella said, “I feel like there is
so much to be done in a small amount of time. But it is like that in every
show I’ve ever done, but it always seems to come together on opening
night.”
More important than producing an amazing musical, the cast of students is trying to bring musical theater back to the drama department. Gary Fritzen, the musical director said, “The kids are understanding that if they do a really great job, they are creating musical theater in this school. So they are giving 110 percent because they really want to achieve this goal.” Junior, Tawnya Burdick, who plays an urchin said, “I hope that having a musical for the first time in a decade will help to expand the arts because I feel like the arts are slipping away.”
Casting
for the musical took place the week before spring break, and the actors
that were chosen are all highly qualified, and have most have many years
of experience. In order to raise money for the performance, the Drama
Department held the LipSync, which turned out to be a huge success. Among
the amazing acting and singing talent in the musical, Junior Jeff Graham
will play Seymour, the male lead character. Sophomore, Cayt’lan Wayt
will play Audrey, the female lead character, and Senior Jeff Cason will
play the voice of the plant. Colella said about the cast, “Luckily, I
was blessed with an extremely talented cast, most of whom I’m used to
working with. They’re all very experienced, so it should make the
process very easy.” Fritzen said, “This is the first cast that I’ve
ever worked with that is totally committed to creating a musical.”
The cast of the musical is extremely close knit, which helps them come together efficiently. Not only can the actors present their characters well, but also they don’t have a hard time singing a solo, or as part of an ensemble. Burdick, said, “Our whole ensemble is like a family. We all get along so well that it is easy for us to expand in our own characters.”
The performers and crew of the musical feel that their performance wouldn’t be what it is now without the guidance of their student director. Burdick said of Colella, “She is such a wonderful student director. How she could be so kind and generous with her time is a wonderful thing.” Cason also said, “I respect her as an actor and I director. I think she has a natural talent for acting and directing and as a student director, I think she is a great choice.”