West Allis Hale students play up the horror of it all in 'Little Shop'

West Allis - A flower big enough to peer into a second-floor window and then swallow anybody inside will sway and gobble up those who get too near on the Nathan Hale High School stage next week.

"Little Shop of Horrors" and its catchy tunes, funny story line and unlikely love story will be presented at 7 p.m. March 14, 15, 16 and at 2 p.m. March 17 at the school, 11601 W. Lincoln Ave.

"We've never done anything with such a huge puppet," said director Laura Anderle-Smith, a reference to the rented 15-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide monster from the Skylight Theater.

Katarina Jevtic will be the puppeteer inside the imposing posy. "She's athletic," said Anderle-Smith, who acknowledged that she needed somebody strong enough to handle the monstrous costume.

Unlike the menacing, conniving baritone voice that was the flower's persona in the movie version of "Little Shop of Horrors," the voice of Audrey II will be a young lady, Bailey Markowski.

"She really won that part," Anderle-Smith said. "She has the voice for it and has got the sass for it. And the plant definitely has some sass."

The music and setting will be big show highlights, Anderle-Smith said.

"It's upbeat and set in the 1950s and '60s, so it appeals to kids as well as adults," she said.

The play, set on Skid Row, focuses on Seymour, the clumsy employee of a flower shop who saves the failing shop by obtaining a unique plant, a flytrap-esque plant he names Audrey II in honor of his sweetie, Audrey.

But Seymour soon makes a horrifying discovery. Audrey II eats blood. Not only that, she gets bigger and bigger and hungrier and hungrier. It isn't long and the plant becomes a monster, demanding to be fed humans.

Sam Koenig plays Seymour and Deanna Schneider plays Audrey. Justin Black and Francesca Steitz also have major roles .

Admission is $10.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: "Little Shop of Horrors"

WHEN: 7 p.m. March 14, 15, 16 and at 2 p.m. March 17

WHERE: Nathan Hale High School, 11601 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis

COST: $10