Canebrake set to open ‘Little Shop’ in August
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 21, 2006
“Feed me, Seymour. Feed me all night long.”
If you read previous words and are currently humming the rest of the song, then you need to pick a date to see the Canebrake Players’ production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
The show opens Thursday, August 3, will run until Sunday, August 7, and the cast recently began rehearsals.
Although Jan Wilburn is the Canebrake director, she invited Thomasville resident Karen Dean to be the musical director.
“She has a degree in theatre and she was just tickled pink when we asked her,” Wilburn smiled.
“I tried to get a theatre group started in Thomasville but we don’t have a ‘house,’ or a theatre to play in,” said Dean, who attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts in high school and received a theatre degree from the University of Alabama. ” Demopolis has such a rich theatrical history and I am glad to be a part of it so I will come and sing and dance my heart out.”
Except for Dean and Jeremy Overstreet who plays “Seymour,” the entire cast is from Demopolis.
Laura Clements will play “Audrey,” and “Orin” the crazed dentist, will be played by Kirk Brooker, who also plays “Bernstein,” “Snip,” and “Martin.”
James Burden will provide the voice for “Audrey II” and Caleb Julian will manipulate the hand-made “man-eating plant.”
The chorus trio is played by Samantha Nelson, Meggin Dickerson and Lynda Ray, and Mr. Mushnik, the flower shop owner, is played by Drew Martin.
Catie Cole, Jason Till, Bess Weltin and Morgan Cooper also have roles in the musical.
Due to the lack of a music director, this is the first musical the Players have performed since 1999, Wilburn said, when “Oklahoma” was brought to the city.
When it came to choosing a musical, Dean said she wanted to make sure it was “something to city wanted to see.”
The set will depict everything from Skid Row, to the flower shop and the dentist’s office, however the only way to see it will be to visit the Old School on a performance night.
The show will begin at 7 p.m. every night, except for a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday.
“You can’t do this show and not have a good time,” Dean said, “I just want people to come and see it.”