By Alice Clark ’28
Editor’s note: Earlier this month, the Wellington stage transformed into the darkly comedic world of “Little Shop of Horrors.” The cast and crew wowed audiences with their energy, humor, and technical precision — and 9th grade student Alice Clark captured it all in this enthusiastic review. From the jazzy opening to the show-stopping finale, Alice takes us on a scene-by-scene journey through Skid Row. Whether you saw the performance or not, her voice offers a great look behind the curtain.
Right from the iconic prologue, you know you are in for a treat. The street urchins (Bella Cios ’26, Kendall Talbott-Boord ’25, Elizabeth Cooke ’27, Genevieve VanDixhorn ’26, Annika Raghunathan ’27, and Zoey Scott ’26) help open the show with a jazzy and catchy number that foreshadows the show's end. The urchins then introduce you to their world and many of the main characters in “Skid Row.” During this song, you meet Mr. Mushnik (Donovan Otcasek ’25), a struggling small business owner trying to sell flowers in a rough part of town, and his two workers, Audrey (Sigal Judd ’25) and Seymour (Jude Morton ’28). Seymour is a klutz trying his best, and Audrey is a sweet girl in a bad situation.
We are then introduced to Audrey 2 (voiced by Finn Wheeler ’25), a mysterious new plant with a dubious backstory. The plant attracts attention and customers to the struggling shop, but Seymour has some trouble getting the plant to grow and thrive, and in “Grow for Me” he urges the plant to grow and goes over what he has done for Audrey 2. In the middle of his struggle, he cuts his finger on a rose thorn, and he quickly discovers what the plant has been wanting: human blood.
This leads Seymour on a whirlwind of finding food for the plant while balancing becoming a public figure. During this, it is revealed that Seymour’s thought-to-be unrequited love for Audrey is shared, but she believes that she is too damaged for him and relegated her love to a daydream of going “Somewhere That’s Green.” Mr. Mushnik also has his moment to shine in the physically hilarious “Mushnik and Son,” where Mr. Mushnik, afraid of losing Seymour, decides to adopt the young parentless boy.
However, the laughs only keep rolling for Seymour and the plant's first victim, Dr. Orin (Elodie Ware ’25). The doctor is introduced in the song “Dentist,” where he goes on about his love of causing pain. Seymour, at a loss for blood, decides that nobody will miss him, but when he goes to kill him, he can’t bring himself to shoot. Luckily for the plant, the dentist’s gas problem takes him out as he asphyxiates in the fantastically hard-to-sing song “Now (It’s Just the Gas),” which the cast nailed.
From here, the show takes a dark turn. Dr. Orin’s disappearance is investigated by the police, and after talking with them, Mr. Mushnik has some questions for his newly adopted son. Seymour panics, and in a desperate plea to cover up his last killing, he feeds Mr. Mushnik to the plant. Once he is done, he becomes riddled with guilt and starts to plan the destruction of Audrey 2. Before he kills the plant, he decides to do one last interview the next morning, but that night, Audrey (the person) is fatally attacked by Audrey 2, and in her final song, she tells Seymour that she will go somewhere that’s green—meaning the plant.
With Audrey gone, he has nothing left and decides that the plant must die. He shoots it, feeds it rat poison, and over-prunes its leaves, but nothing works, and he foolishly decides to cut the plant open from the inside. He dives in, and the plant swallows him. Then, the plant clippings are spread all across the U.S., where similar events occur in most major cities. The finale warns the listener not to feed the plant, no matter what it offers you.
Overall, the cast brought so much energy and comedy to the show, and I had so much fun watching it. I also had the luck of attending the show on senior night. Both David Glover, director of theatre arts and upper school dean of students, and the seniors had beautiful speeches and recognitions that left no eyes dry. I applaud all those who worked on the show on and off stage. 10 out of 10 would recommend.