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Little Shop of Horrors

  • 1.  Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-04-2016 14:02

    LITTLE SHOP is on my short list for the winter musical at the private high school where I teach.   Traditionally, we have done bigger shows, like PETER PAN and ANYTHING GOES and we are currently doing PIPPIN with a cast of 40.  So, I'm curious if any of you have expanded LITTLE SHOP to include a chorus.   I'm thinking they could be "Skid Row" bums, dancing nurses in the dentist number, or used as additional back-up girls.  If so, I'd love to hear how it worked.

    Thanks!!

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    Susan Speidel
    Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
    Morristown-Beard School
    Springfield NJ
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-04-2016 16:56

    We had 34 in our production of Little Shop last year.  Most of the "extras" were in Skid Row and the Finale.  We also used them in Closed for Renovations - they helped change the shop into a prettier shop, and were customers coming by and gawking.  We used them again in the top of Act 2 when there's all the commotion before Call Back in the Morning.

    ------------------------------
    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR



  • 3.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-05-2016 09:54

    We did Little Shop this fall and I had a total cast of 27. As Laura did, I used the ensemble in "Skid Row" as people living on Skid Row, in "Closed for Renovation" as workers helping to spruce up the shop, and in the finale. I also had two smaller subsets of the ensemble. I had a group of six or seven girls who were the dental assistants in "Dentist", who had also been abused by Orin, and I had a plant ensemble dressed like plants that were in both songs that Audrey II sings. People love that show and the kids had a lot of fun with it.

    ------------------------------
    Andrew Simon
    Theatre Director
    Naperville IL



  • 4.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-05-2016 13:41

    Hi Susan.  We did Little Shop twice, once when it first came pout in 1988, and again in 1999.  Several places we used a chorus were:


    1.  As the audience arrived to the theatre, we had the chorus, in costume, out in front of the school and in the lobby creating a "skid row" atmosphere.  Panhandlers, winos, even 2 dueling vocal groups (boys vs/  girls) who worked with the vocal coach to learn period accapella doo-wop tunes.  We heard several parents comment that the school was going to the dogs, and where was security? ...until they caught on, and then they got a big kick out of the ambiance.  You could even have the concessions area dressed out as street vendors (Red Hot Carts, Snack  Carts, etc).


    2.  Chorus members were added to "Skid Row", "Don't Feed the Plants", and as assorted passers-by and local residents in "Closed for Renovation", "Don't It Go To Show", and other scenes to provide local color.


    3.  Check with the publisher to see if it would be ok to use more Urchins, and possibly add the chorus to the Urchins vocal part towards the end of "Suddenly Seymour".


    4.  The combo and conductor dressed as Skid Row bums for the productions, and entered sipping bottles of soda or water in brown paper bags.  


    If you would like some ideas for the set, I have some production pics and ground plans.  We used a raked stage so the 3rd and 4th puppets could be fully seen from even the first row.  Also, we did 2 story tenements with fire escape balconies SL and SR, so the Urchins could look down on the proceedings.  The chorus also used these areas during Skid Row, and Don't Feed the Plants.  Lastly, we dropped dyed, knotted muslin vines from the FOH onto the audience, and used blacklight and UV paint to paint vines all over the backdrop and tenements for the end of Don't Feed the Plants, and then dimmed the wash so Audrey II looked like it was taking over everything.


    If you would like any of our materials, please let me know.


    Have fun with the show, if you decide to produce it!


    Bob Fowler

    Interactive Educational Video, LLC






  • 5.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-27-2017 15:24
      |   view attached
    We used an empty tank and painted it blue. Then attached tubes to a clear welding mask. Found the mask on amazon. Worked great!

    ------------------------------
    Leslie Summer
    Teacher / Director of Theater
    Bogart GA
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 04-23-2018 08:08
    Hi Bob - 

    I know you maybe wrote your post a long time ago but i was wondering about your offer to share design ideas for the show. I am putting on llittle shop in my school in taiwan and  would love some ideas about how to get a big cast involved as well as how to stage with no theatre. We have lights and sound but our space is an open atrium. we have funds for stage design but the simpler the better?

    Please email me at efwainwright@gmail.com if you are able to help. Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Esther Wainwright
    Taipei
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-05-2016 09:54

    I've directed Little Shop about 10+ years ago, and am planning on it next year.  We expanded (double cast) the female singers (Crystal, Ronnette, & Chiffon) and the made the Skid Row chorus larger, same with the finale.

    ------------------------------
    Michael Hancey
    Musical Theatre Teacher/Theatre Guild Sponsor
    Laramie WY



  • 8.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 02-08-2016 12:19
    We had 24 in our production.  We cast 7 do-wop girls, instead of 3, and had a Greek muses/chorus kind of feel to that (think Disney's Hercules.)  Our theme that year was "Let's Tell a Story," so it played into that idea.  We also used extras as Skid Row inhabitants, as delivery people for "closed for renovation" and in the finale.  We made them vines in the last Audrey 2 and they snaked though the auditorium.

    Hope that helps.

    Josh Belk

    Director of Theatre
    Bear Necessity Theatre Company
    at Palmer Ridge High School
    (719) 867 8102

    Membership Chairman
    Colorado Alliance of
    Technical Theatre Educators
    info@catte.org





  • 9.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-13-2017 14:00
    to any of you who've done Little Shop -- I have everything except the gas mask.  Do any of you still have yours for loan OR can tell me how to build one?  Can't seem to come up with any good ideas.
    Many thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Kathryn d'Alelio
    Director of Theatre Arts
    Annandale VA
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-14-2017 11:15






  • 11.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-15-2017 08:26
    I started building the mask by asking the band teacher for an old drum harness he no longer used. (made of hard plastic that covers the chest to support the weight of a drum) Then I used empty, painted two liter pop bottles that I attached to the drum harness. I added some clear  plastic tubing coming out of the bottles and attached them to an old fireman's mask. The actor turned the drum harness around and wore it on his back instead of his chest. The finished product was lightweight and sturdy. 

    ------------------------------
    Ann Hileman
    Indiana Chapter Director
    Bunker Hill IN
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-14-2017 11:21
      |   view attached
    We just did Little Shop at my school this past Fall with a cast of about 50 and it worked out SO well. There were bums, a gang, secretaries in the wrong part of town, streetwalkers and a flasher in Skid Row, we brought the Da Doo scene to life with the same characters (which worked awesome given the campy tone of the show), added the girls to Dentist, brought the scenes of Meek to life (which also allowed us to break Bernstein, Luce and Skip Snip out in to their own characters) and then everyone was in the Finale. I highly recommend expanding this show. It brought so much more to it and was such a fun experience!

    I attached a photo that shows some of the characters in the Da Doo scene but couldn't find a good fullstage one. :/

    ------------------------------
    Andrea Canevazzi
    Pembroke MA
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-14-2017 11:30
    The gas mask is actually pretty easy depending on what kind of look you're going for. We bought a cheap gas mask on Amazon. Then we made a gas cylinder pack by spray painting some 2 liter soda bottles silver and attaching them upside down to some thick cardboard we painted black. We then attached some black elastic to the cardboard so Orin could wear it like a backpack. We then attached some plastic tubing from the mask to the soda bottles. Worked out pretty well, but Orin will definitely have to over-articulate while wearing the mask to be understood clearly.

    Unfortunately I only have a picture of Orin from the front, so you cant see the apparatus we built on his back. But it worked out for us and cost less than $30.

    ------------------------------
    Rachel Snow
    Drama and Technical Theater Teacher
    Alhambra High School
    Alhambra CA
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-20-2017 08:20

    We made ours out of a "cone of shame" from the pet store.  We turned it upside down and attached air conditioning conduit around the bottom edge.  We attached additional tube from the back of the mask to a canister (we spray painted a large tub from a container of Lysol wipes we had hanging around), which we then placed in a mesh backpack. 

     

    The "cone of shame" wasn't cheap, but we did ours last minute. I'm sure if we'd planned ahead we could have found a cheaper one, or gotten one from someone at school.

     

     

    Rebecca Rajswasser. M.Ed.

    Forest High School
    English I; Intro to Drama; Acting I-IV

    Director, Troupe 3069

    671-7400; 58562

     




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  • 15.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors

    Posted 03-20-2017 08:35
      |   view attached
    What about using a plastic water cooler jug? The big ones. I've attached a photo.

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    John Perry
    Drama Instructor
    Atherton High School
    Louisville KY
    ------------------------------