Blood. More blood. A creature that craves it, needs it to survive. Who could be responsible for the discovery and exposition of such an exotic and mysterious. . . plant? Stillwater Area High School theatre students of course.

Students in drama club are putting on the renowned musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors from Feb. 28-March 2. The show has graced stages as an Off-Broadway production and subsequently as a Broadway production all over the world.

The riveting musical tells the story of a garden shop worker who makes a shocking discovery that changes the course of his and his companions lives.

“Basically, there is a hero named Seymour who works in a little garden shop for a man named Mr. Mushnik. There is also a girl named Audrey who is the heroine, a love interest for Seymour. The business for the garden shop is not going very well, until a strange plant is delivered. Seymour is determined to help this plant grow, but just as he starts making progress, the plant develops some strange qualities that become life-threatening to Seymour and everyone around him,” said senior Libby Lambert.

Seymour, the main character,  becomes renowned when his discovery becomes common knowledge amongst community members.

According to mtishows.com, “A down-and out skid row floral assistant becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon ‘Audrey II’ grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite.”

The plant, however, is not the only musically gifted character.

Sophomore Simon Leppicello said, “My favorite musical number is ‘Suddenly Seymour’ because it shows Audrey and Seymour first having their real connection and Audrey finally starts to notice how hard Seymour has fallen for her.”

Many cast members believe the musical component holds much more weight than a regular play.

Lambert said, “I definitely prefer musicals over plays, I love music in general and when you put together a show with acting, dancing, and singing, I feel like I’m apart of something that has so much emotion. The whole show is just so enjoyable. I almost feel like there’s too much talking with regular plays.”

Under the direction of Haeri Tollefson,  theater students receive a great amount of support and advisement while keeping a light and fun environment.

“Haeri has a huge amount of influence on everyone! He is very intimidating, but not the mean way. You just really do not want to mess up when you’re around him. He is so fun to work with though, because he can show you different ways to say a line or act that can make it so much more important than you think the line actually is,” said Leppicello.

Although many musicals have been performed by the  students, this musical is proving to be different than ones performed in the past.

Leppicello said, “The Little Shop of Horrors looks to be amazing. I had never seen the musical until about a week before auditions, but my best friend kept talking it up and it sounded truly incredible. I finally saw it and I thought it was even better than what she made it out to be, it’s nothing we have ever done before.”

Over the next couple of months the cast will be sculpting and shaping the dark comedy to make it ready for audience viewing this spring.