The lovable band of Skid Row dwellers danced, sang, and fed their way through 90 minutes of hilarious mayhem, watching a forgotten corner of NYC become the center for an invasion of one blood-thirsty plant.
Carlos Jordan’s adaptation of Riviera Prep’s very first musical, Little Shop of Horrors, brought the house down with a host of skillfully cast students, including a down-on-his-luck florist, a sadistic dentist, three adorable street urchins, and a demanding Venus fly trap.
Talented crew members assembled a Broadway-style turntable set and second story “orchestra pit” for a phenomenal group of musicians to accompany the young voices. The energy, chemistry and New York City accents of both Seymour and Audrey swept audience members off their feet as did the puppeteering maneuvers and rambunctious behavior of the inglorious alien plant operators.”
Under the direction of our Fine & Performing Arts teacher Carlos Jordan, an outstanding production captivated and entertained the audience.
“I’ve had the idea since last year to put on Little Shop of Horrors,” Jordan said. “It’s a fun musical, and a great one to start a musical theater program.
“I sat down with my Theater Production students to begin the design process the first week of school. After discussing the important elements of the show in class, each student came up with their own design for the stage,” he added.
After presenting their ideas, students combined the best elements from each design to come up with the final idea for the set. The decision was that the set would include a revolving stage (360 degrees) and a 10-foot high loft where the orchestra would play.
“We held auditions the first Friday of the school year and had over 40 students audition. We held callbacks the following Monday with about 20 students and finalized our cast of 12 students,” Jordan said.
Students from grades 6-12 participated and rehearsed for 12 weeks to put together the show. The school’s orchestra preformed too.
