Jupiter High School Drama Club performed the Little Shop of Horrors musical on March 7,14 and 15 in JHS’s auditorium.
Little Shop of Horrors is about a carnivorous human-eating plant, Audrey II, who craves human flesh and a quirky store clerk, Seymour Krelborn, who is trying to get through life down on Skid Row, the town the musical is based off of, and make an honest living.
Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960s dark comedy movie that made its first musical debut in 1982 on Broadway and has continued to flourish since then, having performed over 300 times by 2004 performing the final show on broadway.
Behind the curtains, the blinding stage lights and the audience’s roar, the cast and crew prepare backstage to sing, dance and manage the stage.
The drama cast puts an immense amount of work into their performance, having to act, sing and dance in front of a live audience.
“Rehearsal is a lot of retry, learning how to sing the songs, learning the lines and trying to memorize all of that at the same time as choreography,” Grayce Zakarian, junior playing Seymour, said.
The cast and crew spent countless hours since October perfecting music and choreography for the show, while also having to balance schoolwork as busy high school students.
“I don’t get home until about 7 p.m. so I have to manage my time really well,” Belle Mayes, freshman playing Audrey II, said. “And then I have other stuff on top of homework so it’s very anxiety-provoking.”
Most people don’t realize that a student is working behind every step of the production. Students perform tasks like hanging flyers, choreography, moving set pieces and lighting up the stage.There is a whole crew dedicated to how the stage works in order to make a show possible.
“A typical rehearsal is a lot of running around and set changes.” Jack Pracey, sophomore and Chief Stagehand said. “I do the curtain at the front of the show, then I’ll run the fly system, run my crew to make sure they are on track and practice with the puppet.”
The tech crew plays a vital role in the show ensuring the performance runs smoothly. Tech crew manages sound, lights and other effects of the show. Even though they stay behind the scenes, without them there would be no show.
“A lot of the time the tech doesn’t get as much appreciation, besides their curtain call. Tech does a lot, they are incredible,” Pracey said.
Drama is established based on teamwork and collaboration. In a setting where everyone has to interact with each other, it’s important that the cast, crew and tech can get along and work well together.
“Our theater department is like a family. We’re all super close and good friends,” Juan Gallego, senior playing Orin, said. “It’s just a bunch of coming together and making the magic happen.”
Since the cast and crew meet so often to practice and rehearse, strong bonds and lasting relationships are bound to happen that can last a lifetime.
“Theatre is where a majority of my friends are, just because you’re working so closely with them,” Bella Venanzi, senior choreographer and Audrey, said. “I always have my crew there to support me and the community is amazing.”
The cast’s goal was to make sure the audience felt their passion for theater and the hard work they put into the show. Each night, all the cast put their full effort into their performance to leave a lasting effect on the audience.
“I hope the audience sees that we’re all high school kids having fun, making new experiences and how much work we put into this,” Mayes said.
The audience left the show with an understanding of the message the cast and crew wanted to portray.
“The acting was amazing, the singing was incredible. You can tell they put a lot of hard work into the show,” Mallorie Acosta, sophomore, said. “I think I took away how much this means to them, and their love and effort into the show can really impact you as an audience member.”
