Forward December 2019 | Page 28

SENIOR SCHOOL Drama Little Shop of Horrors Books and Lyrics by Howard Ashman. Music by Alan Menken, based on the film by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Charles Griffith. Senior Drama production The 2019 Senior Drama Production of Little Shop of Horrors, was held in the David Lawe Davies Centre over three nights in Term 3. The production was directed by Head of Drama, Mrs Jane Diamond with the support of Assistant Director, Mrs Lucy Felstead and Musical Direction by Mr Mark Underwood. Little Shop of Horrors is a wonderful comedy set in the early sixties which tracks the development of a flesh eating plant (mysteriously arriving during a total eclipse of the sun) which grows to a substantial size in Mr Mushnik’s Florist shop. Unfortunately, the plant is unsatisfied with the small amounts of sirloin it is fed by Seymour and eventually consumes Orin, Mushnik, Audrey, and Seymour. At the end of the play we are left with the notion that the plant multiplies and takes over the world and are warned ‘don’t feed the plants!’ As Musical Director, Mr Mark Underwood brought his vast professional expertise to bear on the musical direction, training and rehearsing with the cast to help them learn the score and singing techniques as well as leading and directing the band. The production was distinguished by a group of very capable and strong student musicians 28 and lead performers who were exceptional in their roles, performing their characters with depth and commitment, creating a highly- engaging, entertaining performance. There were two casts for the season to allow more of our talented students the opportunity to be involved in a lead role. The students who performed in lead roles were: Charlize Gosnell (12Fr) and Audrey Bell (12St) as Audrey, Cadmon Cocliff (12Wb) and Jackson McBride (11Be) as Seymour, Mason Shephard (12He) and Stuart Boyd (10Wb) as Mushnik, Luke Osborne (12Be) and Dylan Caporn (12St) as Orin the Dentist, Alexia Bell (10St) and Gemma Smith (11Wb) as Crystal, Chelsea Ameduri (10Fr) as Chiffon, Arabella Brosnan (11Sc) as Ronette and Brian Haslam-Bowling (12He) as the voice of the plant Audrey 2. There were many other students involved