Paul Szmal: And good morning everyone, FLX Morning continues at 7.51 it's 64 and it's Paul Small the host of FLX Morning and I have a studio full of actors and a talking plant which can mean only one thing we're talking about the Geneva Theatre Guild's production of Little Shop of Horrors that is coming up this weekend so why don't we have everybody kind of introduce themselves here and we'll see who all we have in studio.
TJ Bogart: Hi my name is TJ Bogart I'm the director.
Paul Szmal: Okay.
Daisy Jewel: Hi I'm Daisy Jewell I play Audrey in this production.
Cameron Derby Lynch: Hi I'm Cameron Derby Lynch and I play the role of Seymour.
Melvin: Hello my name is Melvin and I'm the puppeteer for Audrey 2.
Jesse Tyler Halstead: I'm Jesse Tyler Halstead I'm the voice for Audrey 2.
Paul Szmal: Ah okay so Audrey or Audrey 2 in this case is the actual plant that is the one of the central figures of this show.
TJ Bogart: That's right. And it's I was curious when I was thinking about this before you guys came into the studio this morning up I wonder how they realized the plant on stage and now I know.
Paul Szmal: Yeah we have the plant in studio with us Cameron you want to talk more about this this version that we have in the studio?
Cameron Derby Lynch: Basically we got a plant in this very nice pot that fits in my arms and I basically got a little hand in my puppet with a little fake hand on the outside it's very it's very very good illusion.
TJ Bogart: Yeah so the puppet comes in four stages it starts out very small in studio here we've got the second stage eventually it grows until it fills up pretty much the entire stage.
Paul Szmal: Oh holy cow so just building the props alone for this production is an undertaking shall we say?
TJ Bogart: Yeah I would say the the first three puppets weren't that big of a challenge it was the fourth and final one that was the biggest challenge we have to mount it to a platform and then mount it to a wall and make sure that it's sturdy so Melvin has enough leverage to kind of move the plant without moving anything on stage or ruining the illusion that there's a puppet going on.
Paul Szmal: So this is one of the more involved productions that Geneva Theatre Guild does correct?
TJ Bogart: I would say so yes having to have two people even three people Cameron puppeteering to really bringing this plant to life is just really really challenging but they've had about five or six weeks to work on this and really excited how it came out.
Paul Szmal: Yeah for people that are unfamiliar and anybody can go ahead and jump in on this for people that are unfamiliar with the show what is the the basic storyline of Little Shop of Horrors?
Cameron Derby Lynch: Alright so we basically have a failing flower shop and one of the employees brings home a strange plant one day and business starts to pick up because people are intrigued by the plant and he finds in order to make it grow and allow it not to die he needs to start feeding it his own blood and the bigger it gets the more blood it needs and hijinks ensue.
Paul Szmal: Ah okay okay and this is a this is a musical production as well?
TJ Bogart: Correct yeah yep.
Paul Szmal: So the story is told not only in dialogue but in song. I know my favorite from the movie version was Steve Martin doing the dentist song.
That got a chuckle out of everybody everybody in the studio here.
How long did it take to rehearse this?
TJ Bogart: Yeah so we started mid mid-june we took a couple breaks during the week but everyone's on stage at the same time so really coordinating the music rehearsals and the blocking rehearsals was really challenging so we used a little bit of extra time that we don't normally use and so it was about six weeks of rehearsals and this is our last week and everything pieced together extremely well.
Paul Szmal: So there's I've got to imagine that's a pretty intense six-week period though.
TJ Bogart: Definitely we didn't get the plants until last week and we could only use this one and our smaller one the other two were too big to bring into a rehearsal space and so Melvin really had to come to every rehearsal and get in sync with Jesse which actually happened really quick and yeah I would say it was it was a fun process and it was really rigorous but we have a very talented cast this year and so no challenge was too small for them.
Paul Szmal: Melvin why don't you go ahead and step up here so yeah what's your role again?
Melvin: I am the puppeteer for Audrey 2 so I am in charge of three of the four plants in this production.
Paul Szmal: So you not only need to know the dialogue but you need to be able to make the puppet interact with the rest of the rest of the cast.
Melvin: Yes so I've had many challenges with this role in particular from being able to have to predict some of my movements because of my lack of vision or because of the physicality that is needed for some of the puppets.
Paul Szmal: Wow now that is a tough job you've got in this in this show then.
Beautiful beautiful.
We got to get to the important stuff here which is how people get tickets to the show.
TJ Bogart: Yes so you can get tickets online at GenevaTheatreGuild.org or you can buy tickets at the door.
Paul Szmal: Okay and the door the location again for people who don't know?
TJ Bogart: We are in the Bartlett Theatre at HWS in Cox Hall.
Paul Szmal: Ah okay right on the grounds of O'Barton William Smith.
TJ Bogart: Yes.
Paul Szmal: So that how many how many shows one show Friday one show Saturday matinee Sunday?
TJ Bogart: Yes.
Paul Szmal: Okay beautiful what time what time are the evening shows?
TJ Bogart: 730 and then 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Paul Szmal: There you go so if you want to see a fully involved production that I know this whole group is literally thrown themselves into I would definitely recommend going and checking it out. Little Shop of Horrors again that is this Friday Saturday and Sunday.
Anybody have anything else they want to add or we all good?
Daisy Jewel: Do I need to feed the plant while it's here?
Paul Szmal: Do not feed the plant.
Daisy Jewel: Don't feed the plant. But do come see the show. It's full of heart. It's full of humor. And it's a little bit creepy as well but it all comes together beautifully.
Paul Szmal: Yeah yeah it does. It is a fantastic show. I've been able to put eyeballs on some other productions of it before so thank you all for coming and thank you for bringing Audrey. Much appreciated. Both versions of Audrey. We have the we have the hand version and then the bigger version that are here with us this morning and again Little Shop of Horrors is this Friday Saturday and Sunday.
One more time the location?
TJ Bogart: On HWS campus inside Cox Hall in the historic Bartlett Theatre. And that's 730 Showtimes Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Paul Szmal: Yep. Tickets are available at the door. Go check it out. It is 758 on FLX morning.
