By Elena Cartafalsa and Carissa Hazzard
This past March, we had the pleasure of watching ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ with Cassie Gillen as Audrey, Daniel Failla as Seymour, and James Liu-Silverstein as Audrey II. They received a standing ovation for their incredible performance. “Every cast member gave their all to this performance,” said one cast member.
In the play, Seymour, a young and loving flower shop assistant living on “Skid Row” finds a one-of-a-kind plant. He names it after the girl of his dreams, Audrey. This is how Audrey II was born. Seymour places Audrey II in the window hoping to attract more customers and his plan works…but maybe a little too well. Suddenly, the shy Seymour is catapulted into stardom for his extraordinary discovery of Audrey II. In normal circumstances this wouldn’t have been an issue, but Audrey II had a rather unique diet. See, Audrey II was not like most plants. She wasn’t happy with just the sun and water. She needed something more. Something living.
Audrey II thrived off the taste of human blood. Not only that, but the more she grew the more she needed. And nothing was getting in her way.
Seymour was running out of food options for Audrey II. That was until he saw the real Audrey distressed over her evil boyfriend and a plan popped into his head- a way to get everything he’d ever wanted. Seymour made an appointment with Audrey’s boyfriend, Orin, who was a dentist. This ended in disaster. Suddenly, Orin was nowhere to be found and Audrey II nearly doubled in size. But this wasn’t enough for her. Audrey II wanted -- needed -- more. With nowhere else to turn and no way out, Seymour made a drastic decision. If he couldn’t take Audrey II down, he’d go down instead. And he’d take Audrey with him.
The acting in this play alone was incredible, but as one playgoer noted, “the set design and light work truly added to the magic.” The vocal performances were also top-notch. “James Liu-Silverstein’s incredible vocal range really brought the play to life,” said another delighted audience member.
We were blown away with the entire production: the singing, the acting, the set, and everyone behind the scenes that helped to make this possible. We are grateful to have been able to see this performance and look forward to all future shows.