NHS stages "Little Shop of Horrors"

NORWICH – Only in the fantasy world of a Broadway musical could you combine Skid Row, a sadistic dentist and a man-eating plant and come up with a love story. In a nutshell, that’s exactly what “Little Shop of Horrors” – being staged at the Norwich High School auditorium this weekend – really is.

Students in the high school music department production have been in rehearsals since January, and not even a shortened schedule and a few snow days/extracurricular activity cancellations could stop the show from going on.

Junior Matt Austin plays our protagonist, flower shop schlepp Seymour Krelborn, “a shy, insecure nerd for plants,” according to his portrayer.

As is the custom in musicals, love changes Seymour of course – but not necessarily for the better. The amateur botanist’s love for shop girl Audrey blossoms into “Audrey II,” a mutant little bud that grows into a man-eating (and rock singing) thorn in Seymour’s side. “He gets pushed in a lot of different directions by the people in his life,” Austin says, “especially when the plant starts to want human sacrifices.”

It’s not as blood and guts as it sounds, really. “Little Shop” keeps the gore to a minimum by turning up the laughs. “It’s surprisingly funny,” Austin says. “There’s a lot of great characters.”

One of those great characters is Seymour’s boss, Mr. Mushnik, played by freshman Chris Kappel, who says the flower shop owner is one of those people “who expected to get away his meager beginnings but never actually managed to do it.” Stuck for all eternity as a Skid Row businessman, Kappel says Mushnik “is very embittered, grouchy ... he never has a smile on his face.”

That is, until Audrey II brings some notoriety to the petal emporium. Although the biggest – literally – stage presence in “Little Shop” is a plant, Audrey II is very much a lively character. So much so, in fact, that it takes two Norwich students to portray her. Him. It.

Senior Tyler Jones provides the voice for Audrey off-stage, while junior Eric Wich manipulates the giant puppet on. Who’s got the tougher job? It’s a toss-up between the two thesps. “The final costume weighs about 50 pounds,” Wich says. “I can’t see in it, except when I open the mouth ... I have to listen to the other actor’s footsteps on stage so I can follow them around.” Jones has it hard too, having to match Audrey II’s dialogue perfectly with what’s happening on stage. “You have to repeat things perfectly every time to stay in sync with the puppeteer,” Jones said, conceding though that his off-stage role means “I don’t have to wear makeup.” Neither does Wich, and he gets the added benefit of “just sitting there and relaxing” when Audrey II is dormant.