The Historic Playmakers Theatre will transform into a frightening florist shop tonight for the opening night of Company Carolina’s fall musical, "Little Shop of Horrors."
The student-run theater company will perform “Little Shop” tonight, Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m., with an additional matinee performance on Sunday at 2 pm.
The musical, which tells the story of Seymour and his bloodthirsty plant, holds a special spot in the hearts of several Company Carolina members.
“This show is what made me decide to become a dramatic art major,” said assistant producer and junior Kelly Hynek. “I did it my senior year (of high school) and just love everything about it.”
Hynek said other members also had previous positive experiences with Little Shop, and for director and junior Bryce Edwards this shared love of the show has enhanced the production process.
“Everyone on production staff is like ‘I love this show,’ and everyone in the cast is the same way, so it’s really cool,” Edwards said.
He said he proposed the idea to perform Little Shop, his favorite play, in January, although he has been thinking about directing and researching the production for years.
“As a director you have an idea in your head of what it’s going to look like and what you want it to look like,” said Edwards. “But what’s super fun is when actors actually come in and start doing things much differently than you wanted originally, and you find out you like it much better and that you were very wrong.”
Hynek said due to the small cast size and writing of the play, each actor has an equally important role in the production. She referred to Little Shop as a “showcase piece”, noting the way that it allows each of the 13 cast members to shine.
“Everyone gets a solo and has their own personality in the play, so it’s not like you’re cast in the play and you just stand in the background and do some jazz squares,” she said. “Everyone is very involved in it and you get to see everyone’s acting ability from this show.”
Hynek said after weeks of hard work she hopes the audience objectively likes the show and sees it as a cohesive piece of art, rather than seeing the many separate elements that go into it.
As his first directed production takes the stage, Edwards said he has a deep, new-found appreciation for the amount of behind-the-scenes work required to put on a musical. He also expressed his hopes for the audience’s reception of the play.
“What I really want the audience to take from it — and I’ve thought this from the day I said to myself I wanted to do this show — is that this show is beautiful. It’s beautifully written and it’s much deeper than most people think and it’s never done correctly,” he said.
“I want them to leave thinking, and really thinking ‘why do I feel the way I do about those characters and what made me feel that way’ type of thing. I want people to leave not having just seen a show, but having had an experience.”
arts@dailytarheel.com
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
