Theatre Albany brings ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ to stage
Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher
By Carlton Fletcher
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ALBANY — Don’t get her wrong. Deerfield-Windsor School theater teacher Lindsey Giddens loves working with her students. Sharing her love for and introducing students to acting are among her passions.
But every now and then, Giddens confesses, it’s nice to work with grown-ups.
“I love my students, and I love preparing for the school plays,” Giddens said before a recent rehearsal for Theatre Albany’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” which opens this weekend. “But its great working with adults. There’s quite a big difference.”
Giddens will be directing eight of the more mature actors in “Horrors,” a play based on a 1986 movie musical that was based on a 1960 non-musical movie. And while she did, as a member of the theater’s selection committee, have a hand in choosing the play for the 2022 season, Giddens had no idea at the time that she’d be directing it.
“I didn’t have a clue that this is how it would end up,” she said before her crew ran through Act II of the play on a recent Thursday evening. “I’d seen the play done before, and it was on (Theatre Albany’s) wish list of shows to do. We’d actually looked into doing it once before several years ago, but the budget didn’t work at the time. You can’t do this play without the plant (Audrey II), and it was too expensive at the time.
“Now that we’re in a little better (financial) place, the committee thought now would be a good time to do it. It’s really coming together well, and I think it’s one of those productions the community will enjoy.”
George Darrisaw III, who’s acted in two previous Theatre Albany productions (“Mamma Mia!” and “In One Basket”) and in the University of Georgia Black Theatrical Ensemble’s production of “Detroit ‘67,” takes on his first lead role in “Horrors,” playing the part of loveable “Seymour Krelborn.”
“My goal in life is to live with no regrets,” Darrisaw, who is a senior Psychology major at UGA, said.
“I’ve always been passionate about the arts, and theater is one of those things that I’ve always wanted to try. This role has forced me to step out of the box a bit, but I enjoy a challenge.
“Playing Seymour is a challenge because he is such a timid person, and that’s the opposite of me. It’s a really fun part, and I’ve had a great time meeting, networking and working with such talented people. And Lindsey is so great to work with.”
Joining Darrisaw in the “Little Shop of Horrors” cast are Jessica Albano as “Audrey,” Dave Ward as “Mr. Mushnik,” Randy Harrell as “Orin Scrivello DDS” (the play’s evil dentist), Erica Edwards as “Crystal,” Kelly Kennedy as “Ronnette,” Chelsea Koenig as “Chiffon” and Kelly Walton as “Audrey II.”
Giddens was taking the Deerfield cast through the paces in preparation for the school’s recent spring musical, “Beauty and the Beast,” while casting and starting rehearsals for “Horrors.” The overlap, she said, was manageable because she had “great help” from musical director Andrew Bode, choreographer Leah Anglin, plus her stage manager mom, Dianne Giddens, and prop/sound man Bill Giddens, her dad.
“There was a whole week that they had to work on getting ready for this show without me being here,” director Lindsey Giddens said. “But that’s one of the things I like about working with an adult cast. They know what they have to do.
“This cast brings a great deal of theatrical experience to the play, although we do have a few newbies. Dad has also done a wonderful job with the sets. We were able to use some of the pieces from (the recent Theatre Albany production) ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and some from the Deerfield production.
“This is a fun production, and I think it will have some surprises, even for those who are familiar with the movie. There’s a fun little twist at the end.”
Theatre Albany’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” will run at 7:30 p.m. June 3, 4, 10 and 11 (all Friday and Saturday shows) and at 2 p.m. on June 5 and 12 (Sunday shows). Tickets are available now at the Theatre Albany box office and will be available on the days of the shows.
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