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2007-2008 Season
PERFORMANCE DATES Thursday, November 15 @ 8pm Friday, November 16 @ 8pm Saturday, November 17 @ 8pm Sunday, November 18 @ 2pm  Order Tickets On-line Now!
Little Shop of HorrorsMusic by Alan MenkenBook & Lyrics by Howard Ashman 
This voraciously funny musical that spoofs sci-fi movies from the 1950's was named Best Musical in 1983 by the New York Drama Critics Circle. Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy floral shop assistant who becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers a new rare and exotic plant, not realizing it actually is a carnivore with an instiable craving for fresh human blood! Little Shop has been a hit off and on Broadway as well as on the big screen ... and no wonder ... who can resist a blues-singing, man-eating plant that grows from a table-top pod-in-a-pot to a sharp-toothed giant spilling over the edge of the stage and threatening to devour the audience! Start looking over your shoulder and be aware … a conniving man-eating plant is about to be unleashed on Altoona. ACT’s production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is moving right along and will be here before you know it … and there seems to be a great deal of anticipation growing for this offbeat and popular musical spoof. Carlos Ruiz is busily creating the four versions of Audrey II that are used for the show … from #1, which is about 18 inches high, to the gigantic #4, the pod of which alone is 8 feet tall. Carlos, Julie Piotti and Penn State Altoona student Joe Houser have been constructing the plants on campus and they’ve been attracting a lot of attention from students and staff passing by the new costume shop in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. Meanwhile cast members Ryan Skiles is hard at work trying to be nerdy as Seymour, and Katie Kensinger is perfecting her Fay Wray poses as Seymour’s true love Audrey. Michael Gilman, who plays Mushnik, is learning to enjoy his first-ever attempt at singing and dancing. Newcomer Mike Manfred is feeling a bit multi-personalitied as Orin Scrivello DDS and the various quick-change characters he plays in Act II. Rachel Volpe and newcomers Parris Cromer and Melissa Cole are sharpening their street-smart sassiness and Supremes-like coolness as the urchins, Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette. Jonathan O’Harrow is performing double duty as the Voice of Audrey II, but also as accompanist for rehearsals. And Sarah Slep and Brian Metzgar are both hitting the gym a little harder these days, getting in shape for the workout they know they’ll get as puppeteers for Audrey II. Working behind-the-scenes with director Steve Helsel to bring LITTLE SHOP to life are Music Director Jennifer de Coste, Choreographer Carol Fedeli, Stage Managers Bill Amrhein and Molly Slep, Production Managers Dawn Bonghi and Mary Lou Duey, Conductor and Keyboardist Eric Foose, Set Designer Carlos Ruiz, Set Construction Supervisor Chris Hess, Lighting Designer Maura L. Trimble, Costume Designer Michelle McGowan, Sound Designer Brian McConnell, Props Mistress Jenelle Lockard, Makeup and Hair Designer James E. Gatehouse and Board Liaison Eric Wolf. Load-In for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will be SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4. All help will be greatly appreciated, since our time in the theatre had to be cut one day short because of scheduling for this year’s Missoula Children’s Theatre engagement, so please try to come lend a hand. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 15, 16 and 17, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 18, at 2 p.m. If you want to usher, please call the BCAF office at 814-949-2787 and sign up for one of the performances. Production party information will be available through the ACT office and posted on the web page, so be sure to check that out.
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