Wakefield High School's "Little Shop Of Horror" Is A Campy Love Letter to Horror

By Sofia Hemmens, Justice High School
Cappies Review

Down on Skid Row, join an earnest botanist, a remarkably strange plant, and a sadistic, leather-clad dentist at Wakefield High School's production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

"Little Shop of Horrors" is a musical written by Howard Ashman and composed by Alan Menken, based off of the 1960 movie. It originally premiered off-off-Broadway in 1982, and inspired the 1986 movie of the same name. Since then, there have been several iterations on and off-Broadway, as well as overseas.

The musical follows Seymour Krelborn (played at Wakefield by August Carr), a mild-mannered assistant at a flower shop run by the grumpy Mr. Mushnik (Nicholas Krug Weinberg). Seymour, who harbors a crush on his coworker Audrey (Ava Spera), discovers a unique, sentient plant, which leads him to fame and fortune. However, the plant, who Seymour names Audrey Two, demands to be fed fresh blood, forcing Seymour to kill for it.

Carr as Seymour charmed the audience with an endearingly bouncy presence onstage. Their clumsy awkwardness and squeaky giggle at the top of the show made Seymour's eventual descent into a guilt-fueled breakdown that much more powerful. Spera's Audrey was elegant and reserved, her shining soprano vocals given their time in the spotlight in numbers like Somewhere That's Green and Suddenly, Seymour. And as Audrey's greasy, abusive dentist boyfriend Orin, Syd DeWitt imbued the role with raw charisma while still capturing his utter dislikability. Clarence Martin, Angelina Kaminsky, and Dylan Myers portrayed the trio of Skid Row urchins Crystal, Ronnette, and Chiffon, who acted as narrators throughout the show. Martin, Kaminsky, and Myers managed the difficult task of fitting into an ensemble while still displaying individual character quirks.

Wakefield's set, from designers Niko Godoy and Jenny Merritt, encompassed the world of Mushnik's Flower Shop, with walls towering at twelve feet high. The set team also constructed a version of Audrey Two from a later stage of its development — at a point where it was able and more than willing to swallow its victims whole. Made of wire, foam, fabric, and paint, the finished puppet was large enough for an actor to stand comfortably inside. Very briefly.

Wakefield High School's production was many things — a love letter to horror among them. A delightful, campy romp through many of the things that make theatre so appealing, absolutely. A satire on class difference and the "grass-is-always-greener" unattainability of the American Dream, undoubtedly. A caution against greed, decidedly. Perhaps the show can't be encapsulated in a single label, as is the case with so many things in life. Perhaps it was meant to leave an audience divided over what the real message is. But one thing is for sure. Out of all the takeaways a viewer could have from Wakefield's "Little Shop of Horrors," the most important might be, "Don't Feed The Plants!"