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Show Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 Page 4 •• • tei • *' Z • fl• '4!? Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com !Little Dop of florrorsi rams from the dead BY MACK ENZI VAN ENGELENHOVEN staff writer If you're singing in a group and hear the person next to you belt a different note, you are probably doing something wrong. When Joanna Johnson performs in the Old Lyric Repertory Company's production of "Little Shop of Horrors," it means she's doing something right. "I basically get to narrate the show in three-part harmony," she said. "I love it." "Little Shop of Horrors" will close this weekend after a two-week run at the Caine Lyric Theatre. The dark comedy is presented by a company comprised of both USU students and professional actors. The musical follows Seymour Krelborne whose problems include a dead-end job as a florist in the ghetto, extreme social awkwardness and his inability to tell Audrey, his co-worker, that he is in love with her. Everything changes when he finds a strange plant with a taste for human blood. "The plant becomes the key to solving all his problems in life, but it comes with a price," said Lance Rasmussen, an actor in the show. The musical is based on a cult horror 1960s film with music composed by Alan Menken who is famous for his compositions that appear in Disney animation films. After running this summer at the Old Lyric Repertory Company, the show has been revived with a mix of new cast members and veterans. The same costumes and sets are used, but some roles have been recast due to actor availability. "It's a fundraiser to earn more money for their summer shows," said Tim Roghaar, a junior majoring in theater STEFAN ESPINOSA PLAYS SEYMOUR KRELBORNE in the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." In this scene he feeds blood to his plant Audrey II. "Little Shop of Horrors" was part of the Old Lyric Repertory Company's summer linewup and was brought back for a two-week run. Photo courtesy of Donna Barry arts. Roghaar, who is part of the show's ensemble, joined the revival as a new cast member. Though he was nervous about joining a cast that had already performed together, the rehearsal process was enjoyable for him. "I was really scared, but everyone was very helpful," he said. "And it's been good to work with the original cast members who are very talented people. Lots of them are professional actors who have performed beyond an educational level, and it was such a privilege to work with them." Johnson, a senior majoring in theater arts, plays Ronette. Johnson spent all summer rehearsing the show but never had the chance to perform, she said. "I understudied, but I never got to go on," she said. Now she plays the role each night. Johnson said, though the same show is performed, the fall production is very different from the one that ran during the summer. "It was really fun to watch the show kind of come to life over the summer, and then rehearse it again this fall and watch it evolve into a very different show," she said. "The cast is so different, and we have a different feel about it because it's Halloween. In a way, it's the same show, but completely different." Roghaar said "Little Shop of Horrors" is a perfect play for the Halloween season. "October is a great time for it," Johnson said. "It's funny, but also dark and creepy. It has a real Halloween spirit about it." One of the focal points of the show is the giant plant Seymour raises, named Audrey II. On stage, the plant is a giant puppet, created by OLRC artistic director and USU faculty member Dennis Hassan, who recently completed a sabbatical focused on puppetry. The puppet is large enough that Rasmussen, the actor responsible for the puppet's movements, is able to fit inside of it, though he is six-foot-five. "You get to see a couple different versions as the plant grows, and they're all controlled differently," he said. "It's so much fun, because it's basically a giant mouth and you can be so expressive with it. And it's just fun to get inside a giant plant and move around. There are a couple songs with a nice jive feel and I really start dancing along with it. The plant puppets, which are made primarily out of plastic, foam and lightweight wood, is only a one of the many visual elements that make the production come to life. Rasmussen said all the costumes, props and sets are at the level of a professional company's props, and many of the actors in the show are professionals. "It's not very often you get to see professional actors working onstage during the school year," he said. "They come for the summer season, but most students aren't here then. In 'Little Shop of Horrors' you get to see some really talented student actors, but also professional actors. It looks and feels like a full professional production." Though one actor plays a doo-wop girl, one play an NBC producer and another plays a giant plant, Johnson said "Little Shop of Horrors" is a show with a lot of student appeal. "It's funny and it's goofy but there's still a lot of emotion packed into it," said Roghaar. "It is really funny," Johnson said. "And not just fart-joke funny. It's got really clever jokes. And visually it's beautiful. Besides, everyone loves a musical." "Little Shop of Horrors" plays Friday and Saturday at the Old Lyric Theatre, with shows beginning at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets for students are $12 for the evening and $10 for the matinee. MCT Campus photo Designing a homemade Halloween BY NOELLE JOHANSEN staff writer Charlie Sheen, Snooki, Angry Birds and zombies are four of the most popular Halloween costumes of 2011, according to a CNNMoney report. While there are sure to be throngs of walking corpses and Jersey Shore cast members at the Howl this year, some students are bypassing the popular Halloween shops altogether and constructing their own unique costumes instead. Hiccups Erik Nilson, a junior in environmental engineering, said he decided on his costume after several friends introduced him to his cartoon doppelganger named Hiccup — the rebellious protagonist from DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon" released in 2010. "I went to the DI and found a cheap leather jacket, and bought that," Nilson said. "I tore off the sleeves and the collar. I just got some boots and a green shirt." All he needed was brown pants and his simple costume was complete, he said. He is without a dragon to train, however. "I tried Photo DELAYNE LOCKE getting someone to be (Toothless) with me," Nilson said. "One of my friends gave me a little Toothless doll so I'm thinking I'm going to find some way to attach it to my backpack." Nilson said he is confident fellow Halloween party-goers will recognize his getup. "I feel like it's pretty spot-on," he said. "I have actually had it planned for a long time." "Usually, honestly, my costumes are just thrown together and they look that way," he said. "Usually, I don't know what I'm going to be until that night." Last year, he found his costume in his closet, which turned into Paulie Bleeker from the film "Juno". Intergalactic Planetary Chelsee Niebergall, a senior majoring in print journalism, is taking astronomical measures to get her unwilling husband to dress up for Halloween this year, she said. "We are young, married college students who are dirt poor, so we have to be super creative and make our own costumes," Niebergall said. "I'm going to take some cardboard boxes and cut big circles out of them and paint me as the sun and him as the Moon, because he should revolve around me." She said her husband doesn't know about the planned costumes yet. "I actually got the idea because we went to the USU homecoming parade and there were these people dressed up as planets walking in the parade," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's what we're being for Halloween.' And my husband was like, 'If you're making me dress up as a planet, I'm not going anywhere.' But, we'll see about that." Niebergall said she and her husband are heading to a party in Roosevelt, Utah, where they will participate in several "Minute to Win it" games while eating several themed refreshments. "My favorite part of Halloween is all the Halloween treats — caramel apples, pumpkin flavored pancakes," Niebergall said. Niebergall's favorite costume was when she dressed as Gene Simmons when she was a young teenager, she said. "(Kiss) was my favorite band growing up and my dad was also obsessed," she said. "He did all the makeup on me and everyone thought I was crazy. I have noticed that when we go to Halloween parties, everyone thinks they're way too cool to dress up. I like to do it because I think it's fun and I don't really care that no one else has dressed up." Walk like an Egyptian Lindsay Nemelka, a senior in English, is only crafty once a year. "I sew once a year for Halloween," she said. Last year, she sewed a gypsy costume and she is already planning on a complex batgirl uniform for next October. This year, she altered a dress pattern to create an Egyptian costume. "I think this one is the most detail-oriented," she said. "This is my favorite one so far." Nemelka said she has a folder of 200-300 costume ideas, and though she generally sketches her ideas out ahead of time, she doesn't begin making her costumes until the week before Halloween. This way she can devote an entire day to Halloween music and sewing to finish her costume, she said. "I hate going to Halloween parties and someone is dressed exactly the same as you," she said. "Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday of all time. I love fall; I love the season. I love the candy and the treats." Nemelka said she is going to the Howl on Saturday, but a single night of costumed celebration is not enough to fill her quota. "I wish Halloween would last a whole week," she said. "I would be all over that." – noelle.johansen@aggiemail.usu.edu |