{"id":12731,"date":"2017-01-31T12:47:38","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T12:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=12731"},"modified":"2018-05-09T14:37:17","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T14:37:17","slug":"fiu-theatre-presents-little-shop-of-horrors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2017\/01\/31\/fiu-theatre-presents-little-shop-of-horrors\/","title":{"rendered":"FIU Theatre presents \u2018Little Shop of Horrors\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIU Theatre kicked off its\u00a0Spring 2017 season Jan. 27 with the rock-comedy musical\u00a0Little Shop of Horrors<\/em>, written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken.<\/p>\n

The show centers around a young florist\u2019s assistant turned botanist who discovers a mutant plant with a taste for human blood \u2013 he names her Audrey II.\u00a0 It was first produced as a film in 1986 and later turned into a Broadway smash hit.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0the show\u2019s director, Associate Professor Phillip M. Church, Little Shop<\/em> isn\u2019t just a light musical.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cAudrey II [the main antagonist in the play] represents nothing less than corporate America, a system in which opportunists eat people alive, scattering shards of shattered dreams across the uneven playing fields of consumerism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Performance major Matthew Alexander plays Seymour Krelborn, the shy and dorky botanist who discovers the mutant plant after a total eclipse of the sun and helps it grow into the giant man-eating beast.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive years ago I had to audition for my first musical and I was so nervous I cried,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIts hard to believe that five years later I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with this cast has been incredible. Everyone has given it their all since day one and it\u2019s been a reaffirmation of what I love about this department.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Design major Joey Ganguzza was tasked with creating the four Audrey II puppets. \u201cThis was by far the most challenging puppet I\u2019ve ever had to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ganguzza started creating puppets about six years ago, but most of them were very small in scale. Working on the Audrey II was a dream of his since he started making puppets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubted myself a lot during the process,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to do it, but I\u2019m happy with how everything turned out and I\u2019ve learned a lot in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ganguzza also gets an opportunity that few design majors get, performing on stage \u2013 albeit inside a giant puppet. At one point during the show, he spends an hour inside the third stage of the puppet and gets to manipulate it during some scenes. \u201cThat\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staging a musical presents a whole different set of challenges than a\u00a0straight play, and it\u2019s the first musical FIU produces since Songs for a New World<\/em> in 2012.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIt was a bit overwhelming, to be honest,\u201d said performance major Patricia Contreras, who plays Chiffon, one of the street urchins. \u201cIt\u2019s the first musical I\u2019ve ever been a part of and it was a huge learning experience. I\u2019ve gained a lot more confidence as a singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow street urchin, performance major Erynn Chapman, shared the same sentiment. \u201cFortunately you can get past the fear because you know it\u2019s not just you up there. You have a team with you and you just have to listen to and connect with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Shop <\/em>also presents major challenges backstage with a dizzying amount of set and costume changes. Performance major Robert Ayala plays five characters in the show \u2013 three of them in rapid succession. During one stretch of the show he has three full costume changes that must be done in under 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running on a lot of adrenaline during those changes, but I have to ground myself and stay calm,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen the change is done, I step out as a new person. That\u2019s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Shop of Horrors <\/em>runs until Sunday, Feb. 5,\u00a0\u00a0at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center at\u00a0Modesto A. Maidique Campus. For tickets and information, visit http:\/\/go.fiu.edu\/littleshop<\/a> or call the theatre box office at 305-348-0548.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, Feb 1, at 8 p.m.<\/strong>
\nThursday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m.<\/strong>
\nFriday, Feb.\u00a03, at 8 p.m.<\/strong>
\nSaturday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m.<\/strong>
\nSunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

$20 General Admission<\/strong>
\n$18 Seniors \/ FIU Faculty & Staff<\/strong>
\n$15 FIU Students (with ID)<\/strong><\/p>\n

via FIU News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIU Theatre kicked off its\u00a0Spring 2017 season Jan. 27 with the rock-comedy musical\u00a0Little Shop of Horrors, written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken. The show centers around a young florist\u2019s assistant turned botanist who discovers a mutant plant with a taste for human blood \u2013 he names her Audrey II.\u00a0 It was first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[367],"tags":[68,307,69],"class_list":["post-12731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-news","tag-carta-2","tag-panther-networks","tag-the-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12731"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15358,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12731\/revisions\/15358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}