Weaverham High School pupils staged three electrifying performance of Little Shop of Horrors from Tuesday, 30 January to Thursday, 1 February 2018. The production, last staged at Weaverham 11 years ago, featured pupils from years 7 to 11 with a number of pupils appearing on the Weaverham stage for the first time.
As the curtain rose the disembodied voice of David Quinn set the context for the story. We quickly encountered the leading characters of the Seymour, played by Conrad Clenton; Audrey, played by Jess Walsh; and Mr Mushnik played by Aaron Lewis. Conrad as Seymour charmed the audience and rose to the challenge of his first singing performance. Audrey came into her own as the story progressed and showed the brilliance of both her singing and acting qualities. Aaron Lewis as Mr Musick face the added challenge of having to perform a role many years older than his true age. He rose to this challenge with aplomb and the audience quickly engaged with the warmth of the characters and their Skid Row florist shop.
The central characters were ably supported by Georgia Nancollis, Katie Cranmer-Gordon and Lauren Roberts who played Ronette, Chiffon and Crystal with skill and verve. They added depth to the characters and as the evenings progressed exploited the opportunities of their roles provide to make an impact on the Skid Row atmosphere. The six doo-wop girls comprising three year seven pupils and three year 9 pupils brought energy and excitement to each scene where they performed their dance routines and acted and sung their parts skilfully. Zoe Murison, as Orin the sadistic dentist, brought to his character a sense of the arrogance and chilling danger.
Perhaps the star of the show was the plant itself which grew from a small pot plant which was carried on stage by Seymour to a great mass of vegetation which consumed live bodies. The operation of the plant was skilfully performed by the backstage crew who had the added challenge of matching the plants voice movements to the words that were emanating from the plant. The strong voice of Arianne Roucoule made the plan’s existence the stage focal point of the stage while its sheer size meant its presence could not be missed.
Choreography for the production was undertaken by Miss Jones, who had appeared in the production 11 years ago as a doo-wop girl, with the support of new dance teacher Mrs North who also organised the costumes. Mrs Clark oversaw the music and conducted the band each night while overall direction was left to Mr Kefford. As the curtain came down on each performance it was to rapturous applause from a stunned audience who could not take in the high quality of the performances they just witnessed.