Have you ever imagined what could happen if a plant came to life?  What good things would it bring, or what nightmares would come alive?  “Little Shop of Horrors” by Alan Menken originally was  performed off-broadway in 1982 and will come to Ladue Feb. 23-25.

The story is of a meek young man and plant lover named Seymour Krelborn, played by freshman Jack Lavey, who works in a run down flower shop. One day, he finds a strange looking plant and with the encouragement of a fellow employee, Audrey, played by sophomore Lily Kennedy, discovers that the plant has quite a peculiar appetite. As the plant grows, it attracts customers, but causes quite a few problems along the way.

What makes this show different from musicals past is the element of the mysterious plant, known as “Audrey II.” In just a few days, it grows from a tiny house plant to a Venus Flytrap-like monster. To build the complex props, art teacher Daniel Raedeke provided assistance.

“It’s been a trial and error sort of process,” Raedeke said. “There are four versions of Audrey II; one that is about the size of a sock puppet, the second more or less the size of a tennis racket, the third is about three feet deep and three feet long and the final Audrey II is about five feet wide and six feet deep.”

Many materials were used to construct the vital puppets for the show including various fabrics, wood, foam, wire, paper mache and glue.

“The main thing is to make sure that each Audrey II is functional,” Raedeke said. “We’ve had to design models, try them out, and sometimes redesign them again.”

These props present a different kind of challenge to the Ladue Theater Department. As well as making sure they’re functional, students were asked to act as puppeteers, like junior Keith Hoagland and sophomore Antonio Zaplain-Luna. Senior Blake Eastman provides the voice for Audrey II.

“The puppeteers are great. It was really fun working with them,” Raedeke said. “People will be surprised to see how good they are.”

With a large amount of planning and designing, the puppets that bring alive Audrey II are considered one of the most important elements of the show.

“Usually the sets complement the actors,” Raedeke said. “But these sets and these puppets [for this show] are the stars so it’s very important that they work well.”

This year’s musical has no shortage of theatrical talent as well. This year, the show’s lead roles were given to the younger talent at Ladue.

“With both of the main leads as underclassmen, it has been fun to watch them rise to the challenge of lead roles,” junior Dylan Hafer said. “We still have a lot to do, but by the end of February I think we will have a stellar show.”

In addition to unique personalities, the production thrives because of the immense time commitment.  All the cast and crew spend months preparing.

“The time commitment for a musical such as “Little Shop” is three hours of in-school rehearsal every weekday up until the last few weeks before opening night where the rehearsals get longer,” Lavey said.

In addition to director Janine Burmeister’s leadership, the whole cast has aided each other in perfecting the show. This cast has worked hard to become a cohesive unit.

“The show has a smaller cast, so we are all able to get closer faster, and we are able to rely on each other for just about anything and everything,” junior Leslie Insell said. #