Chewing scenery

A live-orchestra and a blood-thirsty plant liven a darkly comedic musical in the Kenai Performers Theater, as “Little Shop of Horrors” runs for the next two weekends.

The show follows Seymour, who is described by Director Terri Zopf-Schoessler as a nerd in love with a “beautiful but troubled woman.”

Seymour, played by Luke Burgess, acquires a strange plant that catapults him to fame and success, but finds it needs human blood to continue growing. Where once mere drops could satiate the plant, it soon needs more substantial meals.

The show is “warped” and “bizarrely funny,” Zopf-Schoessler said during a Saturday rehearsal. It’s also a show that she’s staged four times — including as her first show with the Kenai Performers 17 years ago.

Returning to this year’s show from the early aughts production are actor Terri Burdick, as Mrs. Luce and others, and Andrew Gunter, who then in high school was a puppeteer for Audrey II — the vicious vegetation at the heart of the show. The massive puppet that realizes the fully grown Audrey II, too, was created by Zopf-Schoessler’s husband nearly two decades ago and was recovered and restored to chew up more of her actors in this production.

Burgess said the show brings a lot to the table, bright music, a creepy story and a large-scale performance with lots of actors on stage. In Seymour, he sees an exploration of what people will do to get what they want — then what they’ll do when they’re scared to lose it.

Opposite Burgess is Alyeska Garrett as Audrey. The character is complex and challenging, she said, facing domestic abuse and trauma with a strong face. The show also offers fun, 1960s-style songs and a large cast.

The show gives what people want to take from it, Garrett said. That could be a silly sing-along or it could be a source of solace as it unpacks some uncomfortable situations.

Ian McEwen has enjoyed the “Little Shop of Horrors” film since he was a kid. He said it’s dark, but still comedic, and it breezes by compared to some other musicals. He voices Audrey II.

“I always wanted to play the plant,” he said. “Once I realized that was something you could do.”

Embodying Audrey II means cutting loose, McEwen said, playing the character larger than life. He also shares some of the responsibility of realizing the character with Gunter, who controls the being onstage.

Between the orchestra, the large cast and the massive puppet, McEwen said, “Little Shop of Horrors” is a showcase of what the Kenai Performers can do.

Braeden Garrett, in a comedic role as the sadistic dentist Orin, said he’s got history of his own with the show. He saw his father perform the character multiple times. The show is “outlandish,” he said. “So far-fetched it’s just fun.” He said there’s humor in both the show’s conceit and its ‘60s setting.

Playing a vile, abusive dentist, Braeden said, is interesting because it takes him so far from his own personality.

Among the most exciting elements of the production is a live orchestra present onstage and wholly visible to the audience.

“There are very few community theaters that get a semi-professional orchestra,” Zopf-Schoessler said.

Braeden said the live orchestra means the actors can work alongside the music and engage directly with the musicians — unlike with prerecorded tunes.

Kent Peterson conducts the orchestra. Whether they’re onstage or in an orchestra pit, he said, the task is the same — the musicians and actors collaborate to put on a show.

It helps that “the music is awesome.”

“Little Shop of Horrors” makes for a great evening, Zopf-Schoessler said, with snacks from Addie Camp and drinks from Kenai River Brewing Company available at the theater.

As with several other recent Kenai Performers shows, a special combined dinner and a show is being held in collaboration with Addie Camp where $75 includes a ticket to the show as well as a three-course meal at Addie Camp for the Thursday, Feb. 20 and 27 shows. Cocktail hour at the restaurant is at 4:30 p.m. with dinner at 5 p.m., before diners travel to the theater for the show at 7 p.m. Reservations can be purchased from Addie Camp.

“Little Shop of Horrors” runs two weekends, Feb. 20-23 and Feb. 27 to March 2. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7 p.m., while Sundays are a matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $25. The Kenai Performers will also host after-parties Fridays and Saturdays that run from end of show to 11 p.m. with admission for $10.

For more information or to purchase tickets, find “Kenai Performers” on Facebook. Tickets to the Addie Camp dinner and a show can be purchased by calling the restaurant at 907-262-2334.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.