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Audition Packet for the Fall MusicalLittle Shop of HorrorsBrief Info on Show: Little Shop of Horrors is a horror comedy rock musical which first premiered Off-Off-Broadway in 1982. Composed by Alan Menken (composer of many Disney movie musicals) and written by Howard Ashman, the musical moved to Off-Broadway that same year, and then was turned into a movie musical in 1986. Based on a 1960 B-style movie (a cheaply made film which played after the main feature film ), of the same name, Little Shop finally had its Broadway premiere in 2003. The music is written in the style of early 1960s rock-and-roll, doo-wop, and Motown. Audition Info: There will be an Audition Info. Meeting on the first day of school – Wed. Sept. 5 at 2:45pm in the auditorium. There will be an audition Sign- Up Sheet posted right outside of Room 119 (The Drama Classroom) on the first day of school. Please sign up for an audition slot.Auditions will be held Thursday Sept 6 and Friday Sept. 7 from 2:45 – 4:45pm in Room 116. PLEASE PREPARE ONE – TWO OF THE MUSICAL SELECTIONS PROVIDED. You should have this piece(s) memorized. In general, be familiar with the music from this show. Please find more details below for what to prepare and see the character breakdown on the final pages. Callbacks will be held Wednesday Sept. 12 from 2:45 – 4:45pm in Rm. 116. You may be asked to sing the same selection or a different one. I will also have you read from the script. (Please note, those called back for Audrey & Seymour, will be asked to sing the duet “Suddenly Seymour)Rehearsal Info.:Rehearsals will run Sept. 13 – Nov. 14. Rehearsals run generally every school day from 2:45 – 4:45pm. (Occasionally, we will hold longer rehearsals till 5:30 / 6. ) As we get closer to the show, rehearsals increase in time. We will also have occasional Sunday rehearsals. Actors are generally not called in every day, but they are expected to have an open schedule for the two months, as we do not call in people on the same day every week.We cannot work around a lot of conflicts in your schedule. For example, you cannot be on a sports team and do theatre at the same time. We will have four performances: Thurs. Nov. 15 & Fri. Nov. 16 @7:30 and Sat. Nov. 17 @ 2pm & 7:30pmSongs To Prepare: Attached are the musical selections for the audition. A character description is included below. You may prepare one to two of these selections. Please read the instructions carefully. Note, you should familiarize yourself with the show in general.Greek Chorus Girls – Ronnette, Chiffon, Crystal – Please learn all the harmonies for this song: “Skid Row” ***If you want to be considered for Crystal, you must ALSO SING the opening of “Skid Row”*** Seymour: “Grow For Me”Audrey: “Somewhere That’s Green”The Plant (Audrey II): PLEAE LEARN THE TWO SELECTIONS “Git It” & “Suppertime” Audrey is a puppet at first, but as it grows, it will be played by a human (not a puppet)Orin The Dentist: “Dentist”Mr. or Miss Mushnik (this can be played by either a male or female): “Mushnik & Son” CALLBACK ONLY (Seymour & Audrey): “Suddenly Seymour”_____________________________________________________________________________________Little Shop of Horrors Character breakdowns SETTING The musical is set in 1950s America. AUTHOR’S NOTE Little Shop of Horrors satirizes many things: science fiction, ‘B’ movies, musical comedy itself, and even the Faust legend. There will, therefore, be a temptation to play up some of the lines as low-comedy. This is a great and potentially fatal mistake. The script keeps its tongue firmly in cheek, so the actors should not. Instead, they should play with simplicity, honesty and sweetness – even when events are at their most outlandish. The show’s individual “style” will evolve naturally from the words themselves and an approach to acting and singing them that is almost child-like in its sincerity and intensity. THE STORY Seymour, a naive orphan, was taken in and given a job by Mr. Mushnik, the Jewish owner of a run-down Florists in the seedy part of town, Skid Row. Seymour spends his time doing menial tasks, being berated by Mr. Mushnik and dreaming of the shop assistant, Audrey. One day, just after an eclipse of the Sun, Seymour discovers a strange plant. He buys it, names it Audrey II and by displaying it in the shop suddenly attracts the customers the shop has been missing. While caring for Audrey II, Seymour discovers the plant's rather unique appetite for blood (and later flesh!). Audrey is frequently beaten up by her sadistic dentist boyfriend and in response to the plant’s ever demanding threats, Seymour kills the dentist and feeds him to the plant. Mushnik pieces together clues about the strange goings on and the plot thickens. Will Audrey II take over the world or will Seymour and Audrey defeat it? CAST OF CHARACTERS SEYMOUR (playing age of mid 20s) Our insecure, na?ve, put-upon, florists’ clerk hero. Above all, he’s a sweet and well-meaning little man. He is not a silly nerd, and therefore, should not be played as the hero of a Jerry Lewis film. Strong acting and singing. VOCAL RANGE: TENOR AUDREY (similar playing age to Seymour) The bleached-blond, Billie-Dawn-like secret love of his live. If you took Judy Holiday, Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe and Goldie Hawn, removed their education and feelings of self-worth, dressed them in spiked heels and a short black dress, and then shook them up in a test tube to extract what’s sweetest and most vulnerable – that’d be Audrey. Strong acting/comedy and singing. VOCAL RANGE: MEZZO-SOPRANO MR. OR MISS MUSHNIK (middle aged? Old enough to ‘adopt’ Seymour as his son) Seymour’s boss. A failure of an East Side florist. His accent, if he has one, is more that of middle class New York than of Eastern Europe. He seldom smiles. Strong character actor (some singing). VOCAL RANGE: BARITONE ORIN – THE DENTIST (late 20s-early 40s) A tall, dark, handsome dentist with a black leather jacket and cruel tendencies. He is not, however, a leftover from the movie version of Grease. Think instead of an egotistical pretty-boy – all got up like a greaser but thinking like an insurance salesman and talking like a radio announcer. Makes a couple of brief, but high impact, appearances. Strong character actor and singer. VOCAL RANGE: BARITONE THE PLANT (AUDREY II) An anthropomorphic cross between a giant Venus flytrap and an avocado. It has a huge, nasty-looking pod which gains a shark-like aspect when open and snapping at food. His voice is a cross between Otis Redding, Barry White and Wolfman Jack. Think of the voice as that of a street-smart, funky, conniving villain – Rhythm and Blues’ answer to Richard the Third. Strong character singer. VOCAL RANGE: BARITONE/BASS CRYSTAL, RONNETTE and CHIFFON – (playing age of late teens to 20s) Three female ‘street urchins’ who function as participants in the action (when they have dialogue) and a Greek Chorus commenting and narrating the action (when they sing together in close harmony). They’re young, hip, smart, and the only people in the whole cast who really know what’s going on. In their “Greek Chorus” capacity, they occasionally sing to the audience directly. And when they do, it’s often with a “secret-smile” that says: “we know something you don’t know.” Strong harmony singers with good movement skills to perform tightly drilled choreographed movement. Significant presence in the show with 5-6 songs. VOCAL RANGES: MEZZO-SOPRANO ENSEMBLE – we will be looking for an ensemble to appear in various scenes and numbers. Since this will be a small cast, the ensemble will play an active role in the production. The minor roles of CUSTOMER, RADIO ANNOUNCER, MR. BERNSETIN, MRS. LUCE, SKIP SNIP and PATRICK MARTIN are usually all played by the actor playing ORIN but we will allocate these roles to the ensemble. VOCAL RANGES: VARIOUS ................
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