Whatever you do, don’t feed the plant!
Showbiz Queenstown is bringing the classic musical, Little Shop of Horrors, to Queenstown from next week. The show is a sci-fi/comedy/musical that has devoured the hearts of theatre goers for more than 30 years.
The show is based off a movie from the 1960s about a carnivorous plant. The music for the original movie was composed by Alan Menken and offers rock and roll vibes. It follows a floral assistant, Seymour, and his crush on Audrey. Seymour finds a mysterious plant, which starts to bring him some luck, but it’s not long before mysterious happenings take place.
The show is directed by Tiffany Bindon, who studied Performing Arts and Dance in college and has had a passion since she was four. She’s the General Manager of Turn up the Music and has been involved in countless shows around Queenstown over the past 15 years.
“It’s my happy place – kind of like my sanity is in being dramatic, I guess,” says Tiffany. “What I really love about directing is finding those connections or helping the actors find the connections with the characters, to give a real performance the audience can believe and relate to. That’s why I love directing.”
The cast includes Mitchell Walsh, who is new to town and will be making his Queenstown debut, Andy Bell, a much-loved figure in our theatre scene, and Dana Hamilton, another local favourite. Alex Fraser will voice Audrey II (the plant), and choreography is by Drey Tendron from Remarks Dance.
“The audience can expect to meet lots of different types of characters – some good, some bad. Mitchell Walsh will play seven different characters, and one of his main roles is Oren, the dentist, who is just such a big character. He’s one of the bad guys that you’ll love to hate. He’s quite unnerving at times and he just nailed it – he’s just such a huge personality.”
Mitchell moved to town seven months ago from across the ditch on the Gold Coast. So far, he’s been loving life in the Whakatipu and decided to move here after holidaying. He has a background in theatre, starting when he was in high school, and Showbiz are excited to have him on board.
“After high school I went and studied at uni – I did a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Drama at Queensland University of Technology,” says Mitchell. “After that, I went to the States and studied a conservatory programme at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for a year. Then, I came back and was working at the theme parks on the Gold Coast as a performer, as well as teaching at my local community theatre, Spotlight, which was amazing. I did a lot of shows through there – directing and performing. I did a bit of film and TV but didn’t like it, theatre is my main go to!
The show has a small cast of ten, but there’s a huge team of crew, volunteers and people behind the scenes that make the show possible including set builders, makeup artists, costume and prop makers/finders, front of house and bar people, as well as a backstage team. Rehearsals started around February, and everyone involved can’t wait for it to take the stage.
For those wondering if you can bring the kids, Tiffany says “Though it’s thoroughly entertaining, there are some scenes that, although comedic, could potentially be scary for viewers under the age of 13. Pre-teens should only attend at parent’s discretion.”
Little Shop of Horrors will be performed at Queenstown Memorial Centre from 18 – 27 May. Tickets and more information can be found at Eventfinda
