Something Mean and Green has come to Radford University!
By: Angelina Capots
Down on Skid Row, hidden inside a tiny flower shop, is the hottest thing in southwest Virginia. Mushnik’s Flower Shop is unveiling Audrey II in the Artis Mainstage Theatre this week. Opening March 31st, Radford University’s Department of Theatre and Cinema welcomes audiences to Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Directed by Professor Wesley Young and Junior Aidan Hilton,
The musical, originally a movie adapted into a musical and then a movie musical, premiered Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in New York City on July 27, 1982. Set in the 1960’s, we follow Seymour, played by junior Draak Sutphin, and Audrey, played by senior Hailey Barnson, as they are thrust into fame and fortune with a very strange and unusual plant. Young describes it as a “sci-fi, horror, musical comedy!” The show contains dark jokes and 60’s rock and roll doo-wop style songs, but its campiness is what keeps audiences wanting more of the supernatural plant. The 1986 film starred Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene as its respective leads and cast Levi Stubbs of the R&B group The Four Tops as the voice of Audrey II. While many were introduced to the mean green mother through the film, Young shared that his main inspiration for this production came from his love for the original 1982 show. “Though I didn’t see that first production, I remember loving how clever and campy it was. I grew up on old movies and this play just has sensibility I relate to…parody, camp.” While sharing many similarities and containing a few nods to man-eating monster media tropes, Young wants audiences to know that while “There are certainly messages about greed and ambition in the piece…at its heart it is a love story.”
This production is a very historic moment for Radford University’s campus. Little Shop of Horrors is the first musical to ever be produced on the Artis Mainstage. A combination of faculty and students designed the production here- scenic design by professor Jimmy Ray Ward, lighting design by chair Richard Dunham and senior Connor Pero, Costume design by Professor Jessica Gaffney, Sound design by Senior Parker Burdick and Sound Consultant Alan Sanders, Props design by senior Karys Jones, and Music Direction from Cindy Blevins. The show is led by the stage management team sophomore Alexzaiha Castillo, sophomore Rorie Bond and junior Elizabeth Villa. The show was constructed by students in their respective shops. Young is excited for audiences to see “the great work of our students- onstage, offstage, backstage- they are doing wonderful things!”.
