Jackson County Community Theatre will present the musical comedy “Little Shop of Horrors” at 6 p.m. Feb. 17, 18, 24 and 25 at The Pines Evergreen Room south of Seymour.
All seats are reserved for the shows. Tickets are $30 if paid by check or cash and $31 if a credit card is used. They may be ordered by calling 812-358-5228, visiting jcct.org or emailing [email protected].
A non-dinner matinee will be staged at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 19. No reservations are needed or taken for that performance. Tickets are general admission and only available at the door. They are $14 for adults and $12 for seniors and students. There will be an extra $1 charge for credit cards.
This will be the 37th annual dinner theater the group has presented at The Pines Evergreen Room.
“Little Shop of Horrors,” written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, is based on a low-budget 1960 horror film of the same name. The stage version, however, features a love story and music of early rock ‘n’ roll, doo-wop and Motown.
Some of the well-known tunes are “Skid Row,” “Somewhere That’s Green” and “Suddenly, Seymour.” The musical premiered on Broadway in 1982 and was adapted to film in 1986.
The play is set in Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists, a run-down shop struggling to survive. Mushnik’s two employees are Seymour Krelborn, a poor young resident of the neighborhood, and Audrey, a sweet, pretty blonde with a fashion sense that leans toward the tacky.
Seymour recently has obtained a mysterious plant that looks like a large Venus flytrap. It appeared during a sudden solar eclipse, and Seymour names it Audrey II, in honor of Audrey, with whom he is secretly in love.
Despite Seymour’s careful attention, the plant languishes near death until Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on a rose thorn. A little taste of blood is all that Audrey II needs to begin thriving. To his dismay, Seymour finds that the sassy Audrey II has an insatiable appetite. The shop, however, begins to thrive along with the plant, which leads Seymour along a slippery slope.
The cast of the JCCT production includes Paul Keller as Seymour; Megan Snyder as Audrey; Steven Deweese as Mr. Mushnik; Skyla Fields, Rachel Morris and Stacey Williams as the Greek chorus-like Ronnettes; and Karen Haas, Katrina Hardwick, Job Willman and Shonna Wolkov as various street people. Matt Nieman plays six bit parts as well as the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello, Audrey’s boyfriend. Alan Killey will reprise his 1995 role as the menacing voice of Audrey II.
Paul Angle is directing the show. Georgiann Coons is musical director, John Hiester is producer and Katrina Hardwick is choreographer. Band members are Dick Parman, Don Klaes, Aidan Hauersperger and Ron Duncan. The set construction crew members are Joe Bradley, Joel McGill, Joe Reynolds and Mike Nelson. Aaron Wright will run lights and sound, and Julie Bradley is costumer. Haas also is stage manager.
The dinner theater is sponsored by a grant from the Seymour Oktoberfest committee. The JCCT season is sponsored by a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission.
Information: jcct.org