Student talent shined bright in Little Shop of Horrors

• PHOTO BY VICTOR RIOS LUVIANO

(Left) Cast members celebrate before their first performance. (Middle) The three urchins portrayed by Eva Mills, Madeline Strobel, and Norah Laughinghouse. (Right) Production Director Monique Taylor poses in front of prop Audrey II.

Student talent shined bright in Little Shop of Horrors

By EdEn MaE RichMan

For this year’s musical production, Riverside presented Little Shop of Horrors.

The cast and crew performed the show three times, on the evenings of April 21 through 23.

The show featured Seymour Krelborn (Senior Donnel Estes), an orphan taken in by a kind, albeit stingy, floral shop owner in Skid Row, a seedy part of the city. In a desperate attempt to save the failing shop, Seymour cultivates an exotic plant, Audrey II, named after his love interest, which he soon learns consumes human flesh.

Seymour begins to feed characters to the plant, including Audrey’s evil boyfriend. As the plant grows, he accumulates both fame and guilt.

The impressive set depicted the florist shop, the heart of which was a massive $2,000 venus fly trap rented from Cary High School that fully swallowed the characters upon their deaths.

“The musical is a collaborative project with the whole cultural arts team,” said production director Monique Taylor. “We combine chorus, theater, visual arts, technical theater, and orchestra. We’re bringing together all of these people from different walks of life together on this project.”

This massive production takes place every other year, and this year was especially

important, especially to the seniors, because due to the pandemic, they were deprived of performances for much of their high school careers. “So many seniors wanted to do a show before they left,” "We're Taylor said. bringing Devon Cholon, stage manager and junior graduating together all of early this June, agreed. these people “It’s my magnum opus in a way,” she said. from different Additionally, due to the walks of life pandemic issuing a harsh stop to theater, the show presented together on this a learning opportunity for project." many performers. “Most of our cast is novice, meaning they have never theater teacher performed in a show before, or they’re entirely new to Monique Taylor theater,” Taylor said. Opening night had the usual slight kinks, from microphone feedback to a loud band that at times drowned out the cast. Yet, the cast displayed unflappable professionalism. As they powered right through, their talent shined. One of these exceptional talents was Joseph Walker, playing the evil Dentist Orin Scrivello. They successfully milked every bit of comedy from the dentist’s hilarious and sinister solo. From energetic, full-body choreography to exceptional vocals, Walker left the audience guffawing in their bright and short-lived life on stage. The sharp juxtaposition of the shocking cruelty of the dentist’s on stage persona with Walker’s amiable flamboyance off stage only school population,” Taylor said. added to the hilarity. For Little Shop of Horrors, this means

Another standout was senior Chris Hammet, casting Adilene Alantis, a Latina actress, who nailed Mr. Mushnik, the Jewish florist for traditionally white character Audrey, shop owner and eventual adoptive father. and white students Norah LaughingHammet mastered a Yiddish New York accent, house, Eva Mills, and Madeline Strobel as which he gracefully blended into his dynam- the trio of urchins, typically depicted by ic solos. I appreciated the many references black actresses. This proved to be a very to Yiddish words I’ve grown up with, like effective choice, because all four actresses boychiks, shticks, mensches, and mishegoss. displayed exceptional vocals that wowed His stage presence was unmatched, and if it the audience. The true tragedy, aside wasn’t publicized in the program, I would have from Audrey’s heart-wrenching death, had no idea that this was his first production. was that due to technical difficulties

And of course, the extraordinary talent of with microphones, it was difficult to hear lead Donnel Estes playing their voices, especially the Seymour Krelborn. This was only Estes’ second pro- Above all else, urchins. However, the trios' charismatic choreography duction and first musical production, yet he carried the show like someone the incredible feat of producing compensated for filling in any auditory gaps. Above all else, the incredwho had been performing for years. Cholon remarked that her role as a musical production less ible feat of producing a musical production less than a year after the pandemic left stage manager has given her the unique opportunity to watch Estes blossom, than a year after the pandemic classrooms empty, is truly remarkable. “We were faced with many from doing a little dance every time he correctly performed a line in his left classrooms empty, is truly challenges coming back from the pandemic,” Taylor admitted, from limited pools of first show, Ghosts in the Machine, to dominating remarkable. students to a lack of common periods, the great asset of a the stage. diversity of perspectives also

In an attempt to best proved to be a challenge. showcase Riverside’s talent, the directors Yet, the cast, crew, and directors persechose to do colorblind casting. vered, and delivered an exceptional and

“In our school we choose to always go hilarious performance. for diversity to reflect our multicultural