By Isabel Martinez
El Diamante has had a fabulous run in the theatre department with plays such as Matilda and Grease. This February they are not planning to diverge from that and are only hoping to build on this with their latest production Little Shop of Horrors, featuring long-time El Diamante actress and theatre extraordinaire, the lovely Aura Henry who will be playing one of the Urchins.
Aura has always been passionate about the performing arts, especially musical theatre. Beginning at the age of six without a “real reason” she says, “I was just choosing something to do over the summer and that stood out to me, and ever since then I just loved it”. Taking something that at first only seemed like an activity that would keep her busy during the summer became her passion and soon her lifelong goal, hoping to major in theatre with an emphasis in musical theatre. So of course it became apparent to her that to keep progressing she would join high school drama, blessing the El Diamante theatre department with her talent.
Now regarding this year’s production, she states, “I have always loved Little Shop! Like the original movie I watched it when I was a kid, I thought that was so fun and when I heard that we were doing it I was already gonna audition but I was just more excited”.
What makes Little Shop a more interesting experience for her, besides her immense love for it, is the difference in production for this play compared to the other ones in the past.
As she describes, “This one is so much more different especially because when we get into the theatre we’re gonna have puppets; we’re gonna have puppeteers in the background,”
Little Shop of Horrors is a play that uses a lot of props to convey its story, much more extravagant props than what other musicals may call for, which includes the famous carnivorous plant.
Not only is it the props but also the cast size, as Aura explains, “It’s such a small cast it’s a little more tight knit, there’s a lot less people compared to the past few years there’d… it’s like half the cast or even less, so the rehearsals are kind of smaller or like its more personal.”
Little Shop isn’t a musical that requires many people; the original cast had about eight people after all. El Diamante was a little more generous with their casting size as around 18 people are participating in the high school’s production, even then the cast is still rather small.
With her singing prowess, Aura Henry will be playing one of the Urchins, a group from Skid Row just trying their best to survive with what they can, while serving the purpose of acting as what Aura Describes as this musical’s “Greek Chorus”. She explains, “While they’re still living in this poverty and hard area, they bring a lot of comedic moments and a lot of dancing and upbeat energy to the otherwise kind of gloomy musical.” That being said, the Urchins are said to put on a great time for the audience, hoping to fill the theater with laughter.
Seeing as this is Aura’s senior year this will be the last musical she is to participate in, ending her high school career with Little Shop, which makes it all the more important for her. Of course, there are mixed emotions, but overall she feels very excited to give Visalia one last big performance before she is off to pursue her college career in the performing arts.
At El Diamante, she was able to share many great experiences with her co-stars, such as their pre-show traditions, “We like to play games before a bunch of high energy games, it so much fun and it makes the cast feel a so much closer and more supportive, it definitely helps me feel better about going on stage with my best friends”.
There is no doubt in her mind that her high school experience was nothing short of amazing, with all of the connections she made and all of the shows she’s been a part of, she has built up quite the resume. El Diamante’s drama department will dearly miss all of the talent and personality Aura brings to the program and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
That being said, go watch “Little Shop of Horrors” as there is so much to enjoy, not just the acting, but also the puppets which add something new and exciting to the storytelling.
According to Aura, “Those puppets are gonna look awesome! We’re gonna have some big puppets, there’s some big props, it’s gonna look kind of crazy. I’m super excited to see it, and I think a lot of other people would like to see that”. To you the reader, “Little Shop of Horrors” begins February 20th to the 23rd at LJ Williams Theatre, so go out and support El Diamante’s Drama department in their production of “Little Shop of Horrors”.