April 10, 2012
The Granbury High School theater arts production of Little Shop of Horrors got the notice of Dallas Summer Musical judges and received three nominations in the first annual DSM High School Musical Theatre Awards. Announcements were made in the Dallas Morning News and on WFAA Channel 8’s morning show “Daybreak” on April 8-9, 2012.
GHS Zack Payne earned a Best Actor nod for his starring role in the play. “Zack is the consummate Seymour. He submerged himself into the character and consistently delivered excellence in his performances. The sky's the limit for him as he moves on to university and the pursuit of an acting career,” commented GHS theater arts teacher Phil Groeschel.
The production also received nominations for Best Scene Design and Best Costume Design. “Our advanced theater tech class did a lot of work in the creation of the two large Audrey II puppets. We had a blast hatching a plan to bring them to life,” said Groeschel.
Regarding the costumes, Groeschel said, “Danene Mhoon and her mother, Mary Jackson, share the success of the costumes for the show. They spent hours planning, sewing and fitting, and very few costumes had to be rented.”
“I'm delighted that our little show is getting attention from the professional theatre community,” Groeschel stated. “I have an exciting show idea for the 2012-13 school year that will be a perfect vehicle for showcasing our talented students next year.”
Awards will be presented during a special red carpet event on Saturday, May 5 at the Music Hall at Fair Park. The GHS play was in competition with musical theater productions from Aledo, Carrollton Creekview, Corsicana, Dallas Madison, Dallas Molina, Dallas Skyline, Denton, Denton Guyer, Denton Ryan, Flower Mound, Hebron, Highland Park, Kemp-Mabank, Lake Highlands, Lewisville, McKinney, McKinney Boyd, Mesquite North, Parish Episcopal, Plano, Plano East, Plano Jasper, Plano West, Red Oak, Richardson Arts Magnet, Richardson Berkner, Richardson Pearce, Sunset, Waxahachie high schools.
The production on November 10-12, 2011, was a rock musical by writer Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken with a story centering on “a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood.” Popularized on Broadway during the 1980’s, the musical was based on a 1960 comedy film directed by Roger Corman. A later motion picture version featured Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, and Bill Murray.
In addition to Payne, also starring were Natalie Willingham as Audrey, Chase Whittet as Mr. Mushnik, and Blake Bergeman as the dentist Orin.
The plant Audrey II was voiced by Xan Cramer with puppeteers Mason Anderson, Cameo Gonzales, Cody Reynolds, and Mariya Swann.
Other cast members were Kyle Clifton, Brooke Goodson, Hailey Hart, Justin Kiser, Kyle Mayes, Kelsey Timmins, Tori Townsend, and Bailey Youngs. Additional Skid Row inhabitants were portrayed by Jessica Garza, Becca Gomez, Danya Gonnella, Victoria King, Angelina Lewis, Nick Mayes, Elizabeth Parris, Cassandra Trevino, Morgan Willis, and Izzy Woods.
The play was under the direction of Groeschel with musical direction by GHS choir director Greg Doss. Choreography was done by GHS drill team instructor Brittany Freeman, and Mhoon and Jackson coordinated costumes. The production team was led by stage managers Kayla Godfrey and Sara Callahan.
The crew also included: production design assistants – William Black, Kayla Godfrey, Dylan Krebbs, Sam Pixley; running crew – Matthew Bird, Andrew Bowen, Jacob Cain, Brian Casey, Bailey Fenton, Kasey McKnight, Preston Rose; lightboard operator – Dylan Krebbs; spotlight operator – Kaitlyn Andrews, David Broberg; sound board operators – Bob Peacock and Luke Sandelin; makeup crew – Melissa Whittet (coordinator), Kaylie Bird, Leah Derrington, Katie Gunderson, Jillian Johnson, Kasey McKnight, Jan Bergeman.
Musicians playing in the pit were Doss, Brent Condit, Christian Carvajal, Joy Hope, and Chasen Mitchell.
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