In addition to the usual challenges faced in a musical production, we decided to make our first venture into the Tommy Tune Awards sponsored by Theatre Under the Stars. This is a city wide contest of high school musical productions here in Houston. This is new ground for us, so we are very excited!
Little Shop of Horrors began life in 1960 as a low budget science fiction/horror film produced by Roger Corman. It was shot over a period of two days on a shoestring budget. The result was so bad that it was funny instead of horrifying. The musical play came later and used this fact to point up the humor of the script. The result was a very popular musical comedy.
The first technical challenge to be faced when producing this script is how to deal with the carnivorous plant that feeds on humans and eventually grows to a size that is able to swallow whole human beings! After wrestling with the idea for some months, we decided that we could not build a series of puppets for the job cheaper than we could rent them. So, we enlisted the help of the fine people at Character Translations of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Their rendition of the "Audrey II" puppets was nothing short of fabulous.
The next challenge was the overall "look" of the show. This is no ordinary musical comedy. It is based on a dark and forboding script. There is nothing bright and cheery here. The play is set in a small flower shop on "skid row". It needed to look run down, dirty, and old. By accident, I found a building in Central Texas on a trip to visit my father. I do not know how the building was still standing. It was brick, and the courses of the bricks looked like a roller coaster. Some of the bricks had fallen out and had birds nesting in the gaping holes! When I saw it, I knew it was the "skid row" wall for this play. I wanted the lighting to be dark also. The colors chosen had a "dirty" look that I felt worked very well. Unfortunately, the lighting did not lend itself to good photography, as is evident in the following photos.
Of course, the usual technical problems of sound had to be dealt with. Two phase coherent cardiod microphones were hung overhead to pick up the chorus. The Major roles were fitted with wireless body microphones. The mics were run through the house speakers which were bridged with two external spekers at floor level. The result was quite effective.

The flower shop was created with a series of raised levels on stage right with a partial exterior wall that included two windows in the corner. The windows were made with 4'x6' plexiglass sheets. They were given a "dirty" look by wiping them with a sponce wetted with dirty water.

The wall ran the length of the stage width from the edge of the flower shop to stage left. It was 24' long and 12' tall. Close inspection will reveal that none of the brick courses are straight. The "scaffolding" was added to give the look of repairs that were long ago abandoned, and to give an elevated performing surface. Two coats of texture paint applied with a pump sprayer gave it an even "dirtier" look.

The flower shop and wall can be seen in the perspective of the whole stage.

The colors selected for the lighting had a high content of red to give a look of prepetual sunset. I wanted it to be gloomy instead of bright and cheery. The intensity was run low to give it a darkness throughout the play.

Audrey II makes her first appearance. At this stage, Audrey II is a hand puppet operated by a puppeteer beneath the counter. The flower pot has a false bottom which allows it to be manipulated from below.

With the puppet in place and the puppeteer in control, Seymore accidentally discovers that Audrey II likes blood.

In this stage, Audrey II is still a hand puppet. She is carried by Seymore who operates her with his right hand. A false arm and hand is attached to the flower pot to give the illusion of his hand on the outside of the pot.

Three specials were used on the "scaffolding" deck. These were the only white lights used in the plot. Their contrast to the darkness of the rest of the plot created a very dramatic effect. This shot also gives a good close up of the bricks in the wall. Note how the courses do not match. 2500 10"x3"x1/4" bricks were cut from large blocks of polystyrene styrofoam to create the wall. The mortar was drywall joint compound troweled in between and shaped with the back of a spoon.

With the attention that Audrey II has brought to the flower shop, Mushnik remodels the place. This was achieved by adding white lattice to the black surfaces in the shop, and strings of small white lights around the windows and other surfaces. Of course, hundreds of flowers were added to the sparce inventory.

In this stage, Audrey II is much larger, and is no longer a hand puppet. The puppeteer is sitting in the flower pot and wears the puppet like a costume.

Now with the ability to speak, Audrey II discusses dinner with Seymore. Her voice was provided by yet another performer off stage.

Audrey II convinces Seymore that little Dentist would be nice for dinner. I hope it tasted better than it looked.

As the flower shop takes more orders, the telephones were made to ring remotely with a TeleQ device. Audrey II is now in her final stage of growth. She is now large enough to swallow a human whole. There is no longer a flower pot. The puppeteer is able to stand and walk the puppet short distances.

Audrey II convinces Seymore that Mushnik would make a nice snack.

Mushnik is a tasty morsel for Audrey II! As the actors fell into the puppet's mouth, they crawled out the back unseen by the audience. They had to negotiate between the legs ot the puppeteer inside.