News Release
‘Little Shop of Horrors’ comes to campus Nov. 12 to 15
November 2, 2009
Little Shop of Horrors, with its man-eating plant Audrey II and toe-tapping music, comes to Penn State Harrisburg’s Olmsted Auditorium for a four-day run November 12 through 15.
Presented by the college’s Capital Players with a cast and crew of 24 undergraduate and graduate students, Little Shop of Horrors takes to the stage at 8 p.m. November 12, 13, and 14 with a 2 p.m. matinee November 15.
Tickets are $10 with a special senior discount of $5. Purchases can be made weekdays in Stacks Food Court on campus or in the School of Humanities suite, W-356 Olmsted. For information, phone 717-948-6021.
“We have assembled a very talented group of students for what will be a fun presentation of musical theater for all ages,” says Capital Players faculty director Jim Johnson. “Our production last spring of Grease! played to four sold-out audiences and we are expecting a big turnout for the four days again this year.”
Johnson adds, “Our dedicated and talented cast and crew have been hard at work since the beginning of the semester, rehearsing four nights per week in addition to full-time academic work, and the production is coming together nicely.”
In the musical, meek, mild-mannered Seymour Krelbourn discovers an exotic plant with a strange appetite for blood and brings it back to the skid row flower shop where he works. As the plant grows at an alarming rate, so does its hunger for human flesh. Seymour, who is secretly in love with co-worker Audrey, names the plant Audrey II and strikes a deal to keep feeding the plant in exchange for fame and fortune. Audrey II becomes an instant sensation with its blues singing and backup singers, but Seymour begins to wonder if the plant has its own agenda as its thirst for blood keeps growing.
Little Shop of Horrors originated as a 1960 film and 22 years later returned as a musical comedy to become one of Off-Broadway’s longest running shows with 2,209 performances. That led to a movie in 1986 and a Broadway production in 2003.
Known for catchy songs such as “Suddenly Seymour,” “Somewhere That’s Green,” and the title song, “Little Shop of Horrors,” the musical spoofs its own beginnings as a B sci-fi horror movie.