Picture it: An evil plant is on a rampage, thirsty for human blood. This is the goal for the next few weeks as the fine arts program sorts through the final details of the school’s musical production of “Little Shop of Horrors”, and the students have been anxiously waiting to see what this show will look like. On Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, the musical company got together for a script reading, where lead roles were announced.
One of the lead characters is Ronette, who is part of the trio of girls. Ronette will be played by senior Teagan Leader, who is a member of varsity choir, varsity theater, and PFC.
“She’s very kind. She looks out for Audrey a lot, and being like ‘Hey this person isn’t good for you, you found someone who’s a lot better’. I like to look out towards other people, and making sure that this is good and this isn’t,” Leader said.
The personas in this musical are very separate from many of the ones from “Bye Bye Birdie” last year. However, despite this there is something to be loved and appreciated about the characters themselves. This is especially true for the actors who play them.
“Everything. The costumes, the lines, the blocking, seeing the audience, everything. All of the above,” Leader said.
The lead role in the show is Seymour, played by senior Nicholas Barrón who is also in varsity choir and PFC, as well as varsity theater. For Barrón, there is so much meaning for an actor when dissecting a character, and figuring out what makes them tick.
“I love Seymour’s arc throughout the show,” Barrón said. “He goes from a very unremarkable and insecure guy to this very complex and flawed person who’s pretty tortured by everything he’s done in order to “better” his own life. As an actor it’s both daunting and really exciting to try and work through his craziness,” Barrón said.
When preparing for any role in any production, performers have to prepare as much as they can for that performance. Every actor has their own style of practice and getting into character.
“I’ll definitely be spending some long nights memorizing lines and music,” Barrón said. “Since Seymour is on stage for almost the entire play, there’s a lot to learn, so I’ll be spending all of these next few months getting that material down and into my head.” Barrón said.
“For me, this show is so great because of the music,” Barrón said. “It’s so much fun and gives us so much to work with, so I’m really excited to start learning the music with everyone,” Barrón said.