March 1, 2013
Location – The Village Players, Birmingham, Mich.
Show – Little Shop of Horrors
10:00 a.m.: Box office opens. Strangely quiet all day.
1:00 p.m.: The Director arrives. Keeps busy all day fussing over final details.
4:00 p.m.: Office Manager rushes off to buy treats for the intermission concession sales.
6:00 p.m.: Actors start to arrive. Dressing rooms light up.
6:30 p.m.: The theatre is coming alive. Various technicians scurry about. Evening Box Office Staff arrives. Props crew arrives – cutest couple ever, Ralph and Sharon Rosati.
7:00 p.m.: First of the ushering crew arrives–Usher Captains: Mike and Pam Dundas. New member, Irene S., arrives to join the usher crew. It’s her first time.
Pre-show Buzz:
“I’m so excited for you.” –BOT President to show’s leading man
“Send me dead flowers to my wedding…”
“The programs are still flattening.”
“Don’t feed the plant!”
7:30 p.m.: The Three Tuxedos arrive: John Reddy, Mike Dundas, Bryan Conroy.
7:45 p.m.: The crowd builds: Joan Bowes, Claudia Mahrt, the Dilly parents, the Fagers,Tony K., Camelot Director, Holly Conroy, the Shilakes, Diane D., the Reddy’s, the McGees,the Wittlingers, the Perkins, Maureen Cook, Becky Fisher, the Kapturs, Susie Skibicki…
8:00 p.m.: Curtain
After Opening Scene: “I love actors who say their lines as fast as possible so they don’t have to worry about them anymore.”–Director
Backstage During Show: “It’s a Gravame…everyone has a costume except the stage manager.” –Audrey II explaining why he is wearing a T-Shirt that says ‘Voice of the Plant.’
Intermission Buzz:
“I love it.”
“Wonderfully Creepy.”
“I don’t know whether to love or hate the dentist.”
“Love the tongue-in-cheek campiness.”
“I want to laugh and scream at the same time it’s so unnerving.”
“I’m obsessed with this show.”
“A Friday night of fun and horror.”
Post Intermission: Under the guidance of Kathleen Duffy and Colleen Gentry the lobby begins to transform into the Afterglow “après-theatre” nightspot. (First cast party!)
Last Scene: “This is live theatre, what are you going to do?” –Director, after Audrey loses her wig as the plant eats her.
Afterglow Buzz:
“I’ll be humming those tunes all night.”
“That’s what happens if you don’t feed your plants.”
“Fabulous show; that was fun!”
“The dentist scared me.”
“Smell that food.”
“He’s an angel to work with.”
“There’s Audrey… (shriek).”
“I didn’t get how the plant worked”
“They’ve really got a lot of talent… great show, terrific!”
“I have to tell Jude how great he was.”
“I don’t know anything about Camelot.”
“All of the women will be auditioning with Guinevere.”
“I had a lot of fun with it.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a show at Village Players and it was fabulous.”
“I had tears in my eyes as they two of you sang ‘Suddenly Seymour.’”
“You should go on American Idol”
“I was driving by and saw the marquee.”
“I loved how the audience reacted when they heard your voice (the plant).”
“I would have laughed more, but my daughter told me to shut up!”
“I’ve seen this show many times, in New York, Chicago; you guys did an awesome job.”
“I hate following Jason at auditions.”
“It’s a cement tube and an acrylic globe from a street light with a muffin fan so he can breathe.”–Mushnik explaining how he built the gas mask for the Dentist.
Last Act: Theatre, Audrey II fed, lights out, ghost light on, doors locked.
–Gary Mach
