Alarm goes off at seven
And you start uptown.
You put in your eight hours
for the powers that have always been
‘Til it’s five pm
BUM / Then you go...
RONNETTES / Downtown
Where the folks are broke
You go Downtown
Where your life’s a joke
You go Downtown
When you buy your token, you go
Home to Skid Row
CRYSTAL / Where the cabs don’t stop
ALL / Downtown
MUSHNIK / Where the food is slop
ALL / Downtown
Where the hop-heads flop in the snow!
Down on Skid Row
RONNETTES / Uptown you cater to a million jerks
Uptown you’re messengers and mailroom clerks
Eatin’ all your lunches at the hot-dog carts
The bosses take your money
And they break your hearts
Uptown you cater to a million whores
You disinfect terrazzo on their bathroom floors
Your morning’s tribulation, Afternoon’s a curse
And five o’clock is even worse
BUM / That’s when you go...
ALL / Downtown
AUDREY / Where the guys are drips
ALL / Downtown
AUDREY / Where they rip your slips
Downtown
Where relationships are no-go
ALL / Down on Skid Row
SEYMOUR / Poor!
All my life I’ve been poor!
I keep asking God what I’m for,
And he tells me
“Gee, I’m not sure... sweep that floor, kid”
Oh! I started life as an orphan,
A child of the street, here on Skid Row!
He took me in, gave me shelter,
A bed, crust of bread, and a job-
Treats me like dirt,
Calls me a slob,
Which I am!
So I live...
ALL / Downtown
SEYMOUR / That’s your home address – ya live...
ALL / Downtown
SEYMOUR / When your life’s a mess, ya live...
ALL / Downtown
SEYMOUR / Where depression’s jes’ status quo
ALL / Down on Skid Row
Thank you to Asda for allowing us to sell their branded products at tonight’s show.
A team of staff and students at BRGS are currently working towards attaining Fairtrade status for the school. BRGS is also becoming a Healthier School as well as developing towards the Green Eco-School status. For this reason, refreshments used this evening were Fair Trade where possible.
The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal.
Producer organisations that supply Fairtrade products are inspected and certified by FLO. They receive a minimum price that covers the cost of sustainable production and an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects.
For the very first time in the history of BRGS you are hearing sound in tonight’s performance amplified through the use of radio mics that you may have noticed discreetly placed across the cheeks of the performers.
For many years the acoustics in the Hall have proved very difficult for performers to deal with and can make it very difficult for the audience to hear what is happening. No department has ever been able to afford to purchase technology like this as they have to keep their money for items that help to deliver the curriculum. However, the PTA at BRGS collects money over the course of the year so that it is able to support extra-curricular activities that otherwise might not run.
This year alone the PTA has supported the Year 9 camp and Year 7 activity day and sleepover so that costs to pupils and parents remain at a minimum. In the past they have purchased the entire lighting system that is being used in tonight’s performance, equipment for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Film Club, Warhammer Club and many more. This year they have provided approximately £7000 to purchase the remote microphone equipment that has made this performance possible.
Without the support of the PTA BRGS would not be as rich in the opportunities that it is able to present its students.
What can you do to support the PTA?
The PTA is involved in many ways in school life and one of the most popular ways in which they raise money is through the 200 Club which is a private lottery and sale of the chances is confined to PTA Members, parents of present pupils, parents of past pupils, members of teaching staff, employees of BRGS and serving governors.
Membership is limited to 200 members only though, but you can join a waiting list of people who want to become members. It costs is £5 per month to be part of the club which makes 11 monthly prize draws some of which have large cash prizes.
If you want more information about the PTA then visit their website: http://www.brgs.org.uk/pta/index.asp
Musical Numbers
ACT I
Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors) The Ronnettes
Skid Row (Downtown) Company
Da-Doo The Ronnettes
Grow For Me Seymour
Don’t It Go to Show Ya Never Know Mushnik, Seymour, The Ronnettes
Somewhere That’s Green Audrey
Closed for Renovations Seymour, Audrey, Mushnik
Dentist! Orin, The Ronnettes
Mushnik and Son Mushnik and Seymour
Feed Me (Git It) Seymour and Audrey II
Now (It’s Just the Gas) Seymour and Orin
ACT II
Call Back in the Morning Seymour and Audrey
Suddenly, Seymour Seymour and Audrey
Suppertime Audrey II
The Meek Shall Inherit Company
Finale (Don’t Feed the Plants Company
Throughout Little Shop of Horrors the Ronnettes: Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette (played by Sophie Royle, Hannah Potts and Catherine Atkinson) sing about the action that’s taking place on the stage. They may be young, hip and street-wise, but the function of the Ronnettes can be traced all the way back to ancient Greek tragedies.
You may be familiar with the chorus that opens Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
Shakespeare was also drawing on the same tradition of the Greek Chorus. The Chorus would comment upon the action that took place upon the stage just as The Ronnettes do about the actions that take place in and around Mr. Mushnik’s shop. They are the ones that always know what’s really going on, sometimes singing to the audience directly. At other times they offer moral comment upon the action and when Orin, Audrey’s boyfriend arrives they waste no time in telling him to “get lost, Vitalis-brains. The last thing Audrey needs is more of your kind.”
Another famous use of the Greek Chorus is in Woody Allen’s film Mighty Aphrodite in which a large chorus offer their warnings and advice to the character played by Woody Allen in full song. The character ignores their advice at his own peril.
In later years the number of singers in the Chorus has tended to be three as in Ashman’s script for Little Shop but during Sophocles’ time there would have been fifteen singers in the chorus.
…in an early year of a decade not too long before our own…
The Music of Little Shop of Horrors
MR MERCER DISCUSSES THE MUSIC OF LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS...
Although we are not told specifically when the creepy events of our story take place, the music leaves us in no doubt. As soon as the spoken Prologue is over, the band erupts with the sounds of early Motown as the vocal trio ‘shoop’ their way to the stage.
In fact, almost every musical genre of the 1960s is here – Doo-Wop, Soul, R ‘n’ B, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and even early Disco Funk!
The music of the period also clearly influenced how the writers of the musical developed the characters. The Supremes-style trio are named Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette after three famous girl groups from the 1960s, Orin’s quiff and leather jacket recall Elvis in his Rock ‘n’ Roll heyday, and Seymour’s glasses appear straight from the cover of a Buddy Holly LP.
The music and lyrics of Little Shop were written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, an Oscar-winning song-writing team famous for catchy songs with clever lyrics. Alongside their work on musicals, Menken and Ashman contributed well-loved songs for such well-loved Disney films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
Above all, the music of Little Shop is upbeat, catchy and great fun. Our cast and musicians have put in a lot of hard work and had a brilliant time bringing it to life, so we hope you leave the show loving it as much as we do!
Enjoy the show, and remember…
WHATEVER THEY OFFER YOU, DON’T FEED THE PLANTS!!!
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director Mr. Alastair Whyte
Asst. Director Miss. Hannah Strickland
Musical Director Mr. Steven Mercer
Asst. Musical Director Miss. Jo Tierney
Lighting Mr. Darren Vass, Jacques Dark & Steven Partington
Sound & Technical Mr. Clive Davenport
Props & Stage Management Mr. Paul Reeves, Laura Duffy, Helen Codd
Costume Miss. Ollivia Hayes
Set Design Miss. Diane Bamford, Vicki Lord
Make-up Jade Bowater & Holly Watson
Interval Refreshments Mrs. Jill Hughes
Poster and Artwork Ben Langridge
Programme/Front of House Mr. Steven Haycocks