A Not so Little Shop of Horrors

The end of the semester marks the succession of another thrilling show in our Hongqiao theater. On November 30th and December 1st, Little Shop of Horrors directed by upper school drama teacher, Curtis Holland, took center stage.

One of the longest-running Off-Broadway show, Little Shop of Horrors tells the tale of a floral assistant, Seymour Krelborn (AinsleyFreeman), who stumbles across a new breed of plant that he names “Audrey II” (Lucy Chen & Meadow Valerio) after his coworker crush Audrey (Sevillana Ettinger).

The rude, R&B-singing, carnivorous plant promises fame and fortune to Seymour in exchange for one thing, blood. But over time, Seymour soon discovers Audrey II’s actual intentions, to dominate the earth!

The two-act full-length musical is the culmination of over 12 weeks of effort from our upper school performing arts program. While the show only calls for 8-10 performers, over 55 MYP & DP students were involved in the creation of the show from actors, backstage crew-members, designers, and technicians.

“One of the most beautiful things about this experience was the way in which all art forms, students from all MYP years and numerous skills came together in this learning process,” comments Mr. Holland.

The director adds that “being a part of the bond that is created through a group putting time, effort, and creativity into a large project such as this is the most rewarding part of directing a show”.

Indeed, putting on such an intricate performance required the coordination of multiple groups including lighting and sound, performance, music, choreography, props, set design, costumes, make-up, and a running crew.

When asked about what their favorite moment was while working on Little Shop of Horrors, here’s what students had to say:

“I think when Stijn missed his lines but improvised to make everyone laugh. This was on Friday night.” – Ainsley Freeman (Seymour)

“It was really fun when we were all singing the Mushnik and Son song after the first performance, the feeling at that time was just amazing!” – Majken Krigsman (Chorus)

“I loved the whole show, it was fun, heart racing and nail-biting!” – Jack Crandall (Mushnik)

The show wouldn't have been made possible without the hard work and dedication of the following teachers:

Director: Curtis Holland

Musical Director: Brandon Miller

Assistant Director: Antonine Kubler

Artistic Direction: Matthew Tollitt

Artistic Direction & Puppet Creator: Hayley Tollitt

Puppet Creator: Jonny Alexander

Sound Coordinator: Mark Turner

Choreographer: Lindsay Rielly

Expect more dramatic experiences from our performing arts department and talented student performers in subsequent shows this school year.

Shanghai Community International School

We are an N-12 IB World School representing over 65 nationalities from around the world.

Admissions Contact

+86 21 6261 4338

 admissions@scis-china.org

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