Community Theatre Finds Success, Lasting Memories During Spring Musical 'Little Shop of Horrors'

ABOVE: A cast and crew photo of the Mackinac Island Community Theatre’s “Little Shop of Horrors” musical production. Over the course of two nights and three shows, nearly 500 people attended the production. BELLOW: Seymour (played by Philip Rice) and Audrey II, the bloodthirsty plant. SARA WRIGHT, IT’S WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY PHOTOS

Just before 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night in April, Mission Point Theater at Mission Point Resort began filling up with people eager to see the latest musical production performed by the Mackinac Island Community Theatre: “Little Shop of Horrors.” April 21 and April 22, the cast performed three live shows, as nearly the entire winter population of the Island watched the story of Seymour (Philip Rice), Audrey (Megan Frost), Mrs. Mushnik (Kyrsten Cavazos), and a bloodthirsty, man-eating plant called Audrey II.

Friday, April 21, was opening night, and most cast and crew members were backstage, preparing for the premiere and gearing up for a long night by warming up their bodies and their voices. A mix of excitement, relief, and anticipation hung in the air.

But out in the theater as the audience began taking their seats, Adrian Skazalski, the technical director for the show, was getting nervous.

Mr. Skazalski said that actors in a play don’t typically get to see the theater fill up because they’re backstage – and seeing the crowd might break character. Mr. Skazalski was running sound in a booth in the back corner of the theater, and he got to see the seats fill up one by one.

“But we [the tech crew members] get to see them,” he said. “They walk right by us. So, I think that gave me a little bit of nerves.”

Mr. Skazalski works for Mackinac State Historic Parks as a park ranger. He first came to the Island as an intern in 2020, and he has been involved with the community theatre since the winter 2022 production of “The Music Man.” For Mr. Skazalski, who had some theater technician experience from high school and college, the community theater is a way to get involved with something outside of his day job.

Despite his nerves on opening night, as soon as the lights dimmed and the opening number began, Mr. Skazalski’s confidence grew. He’d done this before – he knew how to run the show with his crew members Kym Thayer on lights and Liz Findley on the spotlight. Soon, as Mr. Skazalski called it, he was “in the thick of it.”

From left, Alexa Miller, Xavier Cruz, and Sarah Ombry perform as Chiffon, Ronnie, and Crystal, also known as the street urchins or “Greek Chorus” of the show. SARA WRIGHT, IT’S WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY PHOTOS

“Once the show starts, it goes so fast because you don’t catch a break. But once you’re going, you’re going,” Mr. Skazalski said. “I love that feeling.”

The theatre’s “Little Shop of Horrors” was directed by Brian Findley and starred more than a dozen Island residents and community members. In total, including cast, crew, and ushers, there were 42 people involved in the play in some capacity – about 10% of the Island’s year-around population, Mr. Findley pointed out. Mr. Findley runs Small Point Bed and Breakfast with his wife, Christina, and “Little Shop of Horrors” was his directorial debut.

While there was no admission fee, the musical had a high production value, made possible by the many volunteers.

“We did this like a Broadway production,” Mr. Findley said. “Most community theaters don’t do what we did.”

Megan Frost as Audrey. Mrs. Frost said auditioning for Audrey was the first time she walked into the community theater auditions hoping for a specific part.

“Little Shop of Horrors” tells the story of Mushnik’s Flower Shop, owned in this production by Mrs. Mushnik – portrayed by Ms. Cavazos – and the shop’s employees Audrey – Ms. Frost – and Seymour – Dr. Rice. Seymour acquires an exotic carnivorous plant, Audrey II, who generates enough business to save the shop from going under. As Seymour pines over Audrey, who is dating a sadistic dentist, the shop’s fortunes take a turn for the worse as Audrey II becomes increasingly bloodthirsty.

For Ms. Cavazos, who has been involved with Mackinac Island Community Theatre since it was revived a few winters ago, “Little Shop of Horrors” was a chance to perform in her favorite play. She portrayed one of her “personal favorite dream char- acters .”

The Island’s production changed the gender of the character from male to female – changing Mr. Mushnik to Mrs. Mushnik. Ms. Cavazos was able to take on her second big role in the theatre group by taking a step back from behind the scenes and into the spotlight. Earlier this winter, she directed the theater’s first children-only production of “Mary Poppins Jr.” She helped in the casting of “Little Shop,” but was able to return to acting.

Ms. Cavazos recalled the opening night of the play as overwhelming, but it also felt like a huge sigh of relief. The well-oiled production they had been preparing for weeks was finally going to be performed for the world.

“Everyone was giddy, like little kids,” she said.

The props for “Little Shop of Horrors” were intricate and elaborate, and the set featured a revolving stage, an orchestra pit, and auxiliary stoops. There was even a working dentist’s chair.

“When we spun the stage there were ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ and ‘gasps,’” Mr. Findley said. “You know, little Mackinac Island on Broadway.”

According to Mr. Skazalski, “Little Shop” is a technically complex show. Rather than rent puppets to portray Audrey II, the crew built four puppets from scratch. The largest version took up most of the stage, and measured 11 feet long, nine feet wide, and 10 feet tall. It required four puppeteers to maneuver.

Backstage, there was a large team of crew members working under stage manager Jeri-Lynn Bailey, making sure set changes, scenic changes, and costume changes happened smoothly.

“We were all on our earpieces playing Secret Service,” Mr. Skazalski quipped. “It’s a lot of us working behind the scenes. You ideally see none of us. But you need us all.”

Ms. Frost, who works as assistant manager at Main Street Inn and Suites and volunteers as the cheer coach at Mackinac Island Public Schools, played the female lead, Audrey. Like Ms. Cavazos, Ms. Frost said the role was a dream come to life. She also spoke of the play as a fun-filled experience surrounded by lots of friends, old and new.

Ms. Frost has been involved with the Mackinac Island Community Theatre since its recent revival. But, she said, this was the first time she walked into the auditions hoping for a specific part.

“I knew I could do the voice,” Ms. Frost said. “I really wanted it.”

After auditions and casting finished in February, the cast spent about five weeks rehearsing for the show in the Mission Point Theater, all while the set and props were being built. Everyone had their own favorite moments of the play that made it special to them.

One of Ms. Cavazos’s favorite moments was when she got to perform the musical number “Mushnik and Son.” It’s a silly, overthe top number where Ms. Cavazos’s character Mrs. Mushnik, obsessed with fame and fortune, tries to convince Seymour, played by Dr. Rice, to let her adopt him to prevent Seymour and his new famous plant Audrey II from leaving her shop.

“That song has so many silly moments,” Ms. Cavazos said. “I was really excited to share [that] with my friend.”

On the technical side of the production, Mr. Skazalski said he enjoyed the use of lighting to, as he called it, “suspend disbelief,” by lighting Audrey II and later giving the illusion of the plant eating people.

When closing night came arrived Saturday, a different kind of adrenaline was surging through the air.

“We wanted to be able to close that chapter and consider it a success,” Ms. Cavazos said.

The production had improved over the weekend, and the entire cast performed their best. But there was also a certain sense of sadness that community theater was coming to a close for the season.

“We knew we could do it; Kym [Thayer] and I were having a blast in the back,” Mr. Skazalski said. “[It was] so bittersweet.”

After the show, most theatergoers stayed around to congratulate the cast and crew. Nearly the entire Island came to support the show, reinforcing the special role that the community theater has come to play during the winter season.

“[The show] was so well done by the company,” Mr. Findley said. “I was very proud of them.”

After a few weeks to reflect, many cast and crew members described the “Little Shop of Horrors” experience as one they’ll remember for a while, something they wouldn’t have missed for the world.

“Theater is theater – you have to see it live,” Mr. Skazalski said, “and then you have to take it with you as a memory.”