The cast of Little Shop of Horrors performing “Downtown (Skid Row)”Photo: Dave Parent
By Jordyn Martin, Sanford High School sophomore
The Broadway horror-comedy musical Little Shop of Horrors is coming to Nasson Little Theater in Springvale for two weekends May 29-31 and June 5-7. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 pm while Sunday matinees begin at 2:30 pm.
Director Ash Muise said the production marks both a personal milestone and a chance to reinterpret the classic musical through a contemporary lens.
“It’s my first big undertaking in that I’ve never directed a musical before, so it’s been a big learning experience for sure,” Muise said. “It’s very significant to me that it’s happening here at Nasson simply because I’ve done most of my theater here and this is the community that’s raised and taught me, so now it’s really exciting to give back to that.”
The show will feature an array of local talent such as Gwendolyn Benoit as the meek and awkward florist assistant Seymour Krelborn and Emily Andrews as her sweet, soft-spoken coworker and crush, Audrey. Little Shop of Horrors is a classic story, both on the stage and within Hollywood, that follows the chaos that ensues once Seymour acquires and raises the carnivorous, sentient plant dubbed Audrey II (played by Devon Fogarty), who has a taste for fresh, human blood.
Muise said the show resonated because its characters are ultimately searching for stability and a normal life–goals that can feel increasingly difficult to achieve.
“Really what we see the main characters struggling with is not that they want to be rich and famous,” Muise said. “Truly, they just want to live a normal life. They want to own property.
They want to be able to love who they love. They want to be able to get out of their situation, which I think is something a lot of people relate to, especially now, where having those things is more difficult than it has been in recent times.”
“The show delves into where individual moral and ethical lines waver and blur,” Muise said. “What are you willing to give up for success? Who are you willing to step on? And when is it justifiable? I think that everybody can see themselves in this show in that these are all things that we as people struggle with.”
One of the largest changes in this production is the decision to cast Seymour as female, creating a lesbian relationship between Seymour and Audrey.
“I think at the end of the day that’s what most queer people want,” Muise said. “They want to be treated like everybody else and have what everybody else has, which is the right to love people and exist. I felt like that was a really significant story to tell, and Little Shop is a nice vehicle for that because it’s so well known.”
Muise also highlighted the growth of the cast and crew through the rehearsal process.
“Everybody really showed up and showed out,” Muise said. “We have some people we’ve worked with a whole bunch and some people we’ve never worked with at all, so you never know what you’re going to get, but everybody’s bonded so much and it shows on stage,”
“I think the quality of productions that we consistently put on at Nasson is of a much higher level than what you’re paying for,” Muise said. “We really try to keep our ticket prices low enough so that everybody in town has access to come see it while keeping our quality up there with the more professional productions in the area.”
Tickets are on sale online on the Nasson Community Center website and at the door beginning a half hour before the show. Adult tickets are $16.30, while tickets for children 17 and under and seniors 65 and older are $13.24. (https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/nassonevents/little-shop-of-horrors)
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