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Community Theatre brings back ‘Horrors’
by Krista Goerte
The Paris News
Published October 9, 2008
The newest production of the Paris Community Theatre will combine a plant with a thirst for blood, 1960s style doo-wop girls, a sadistic dentist and an infatuated flower shop owner in a musical comedy fit for the whole family.
Director John Wright and the PCT cast and crew will bring “Little Shop of Horrors” to the Paris area for showings tomorrow through Sunday, then again Oct. 16 through Oct. 19. Friday and Saturday’s shows will begin at 8 p.m. and the Sunday matinees will begin at 2:30 p.m. The Thursday show on Oct. 16 will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the Thursday night and Sunday matinee shows. Friday and Saturday night tickets are $12.
“This is not a musical, it’s an actical, because it really has a lot more acting than singing in it in some ways,” Wright said. “It has a lot of singing in it, though — a lot of rock and roll.”
The play, originally a low budget horror film released in 1960, quickly became a cult classic. Turned into a musical in 1982, it became the third longest off-broadway musical in its five years and more than 2,000 shows, even out-showing the broadway smash “Cats” in its first season.
The satire is about Seymour, a flower shop owner, who, luckily or unluckily, buys a plant from a stranger. Naming the plant Audrey II, after the object of his huge crush, he will find that the plant turns his lackluster flower shop into a success. The catch is that the plant is only sustained by blood. The plant becomes a celebrity on “Skidrow” and draws characters such as the doo-wop girls and Orin, the sadistic dentist.
“We spare no expense,” the director joked. “The audience will get to personally talk to bag ladies and drunks, at the first of the show and intermission.
Wright says the show is basically for fun, but also is about how prospects of fame or fortune can cause one to do things they might not otherwise be pushed to do, or “feed themselves or their friends to the plant.”
“The plant not only learns to sing and dance, but it grows and grows and grows,” the director said. “But here’s the problem: It will reward Seymour and the flower shop by making it more successful and making more money. Even the doo-wop girls start dressing up and looking nicer and start helping the plant because everybody around the plant seems to have success, to get something out of it. But, the little problem is that you have to find something to feed the plant, and the plant only likes blood.”
The crew includes Cliff Scott as Seymour and Michelle Jewett as Aubrey, Seymour’s crush. The plant, Aubrey II, is voiced by Paul Dearinger. Thrown into the mix are Mr. Mushnik,, played by Greg Higgins and Orin the dentist, played by Gary Young. Young also plays Mr. Martin, a bum and a customer. Alex Fowzer plays Mr. Bernstein, Snip, an agent and a bum, and James Alexander plays the Skidrow kid and the customer. Amy Burrows plays Mrs. Luce as well as a customer, and Juan Espinoza plays a bum, customer and plant wrangler. Jeff Higgins serves as stage manager in addition to playing a bum and being a plant wrangler.
Wright added three doo-wop girls to the play’s original three, and the six are comprised of a very diverse group from the Paris community, including a church secretary, two Paris Junior College students, a lawyer, a doctor and a stay-at-home mom. Cate Jones plays Crystal, Sydney Young plays Ronnette, Rebecca Robinson plays Chiffon, Sherry Scott plays Lois, Kelly Turner plays Aquanetta, and Samantha House plays Effie.
“Our six doo-wop girls have really worked hard to dance like 50s, 60s ghetto singers,” Wright said.
Tim Wood serves as director’s assistant and musical director, and general right-arm man, according to the director. Ray Karrer serves as the set designer for the show, a switch from a 1988 PJC “Little Shop” production where Karrer served as director and Wright served as set designer.
Katherine Burns, Alan Jones and Robinson are responsible for the set painting, and Robinson and Jones served as costume designers. Choreography for the show was written by Jewett and Sydney Young, and Amy Burrows is in charge of props. Also, Pat Fowzer served as a voice coach.
The Little Shop Skidrow Band is comprised of Wood, Glen Wark, Dearinger and Cody McDowell.
For tickets or more infomation, contact 903-784-0259.
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