The musically bright “Little Shop of Horrors” by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman opens tomorrow night, May 10, at the JSU/McClellan Theatre with vital help from skilled Jacksonville actors and stage management volunteers. Twenty-two years ago, audiences saw Lee Pope in it as “Seymour”, one of the main parts, at Anniston Community Theatre. Pope was then a student at JSU and well into acting and drama.In this production, Sumer Buckner of Jacksonville plays “Audrey”, and Sara Adams, Denise Davis and Delaney Gibbs (Gibbs is from Weaver) sing and act a 1960s girls’ group, representing Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette of the 1950s and ‘60s, and Joseph Giri from Piedmont is the floral shop owner.
JSU graduate Jason Skinner sings and acts “the plant, Audrey II” while Torsten Dryden, making his CAST debut, is in the chorus. Ralph Drake helped with stage building, and Elizabeth Johnson, granddaughter of Larry and Guylene Johnson of Jacksonville, is helping with stage management. The musical is directed by JSU graduate Kimberley Dobbs.
The music is snappy, romantic, and melodic, beautifully delivered by well-trained singers. The plot is captivating and mystifying. It is a dark comedy but contains humor and heart. The musical styles range from 1950s, to tango, to early Motown, operetta, a bit of soul, Latin and a bit of gospel. Roles range from homeless wanderers on Skid Row to agents, street urchins, florist shop workers, a sadistic dentist, to wealthy customers in the floral shop, to news media reporters who are giving Seymour and the wildly growing plant intense coverage.
See the musical at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2:30 Sunday. “Little Shop”, which is becoming a modern classic, continues the next week May 17-20. Both Thursdays are “pay what you can” night. Adult admission is $15 and full time students pay $5. Group rates (12 people or more) are available. The musical closes the 2006-07 season and there is more to come starting next fall with “South Pacific”.
The new season has been planned (four productions) and season ticket sellers will be at the theater with information. For reservations, call 820-CAST (2278).
Watercolor Society of Alabama Exhibit
What? You haven’t seen the current watercolor exhibit at the Anniston Museum of Natural History? Be sure to see it now, for it will come down May 31. I recommend it highly, and after 30 minutes of looking at the paintings, I was just getting started.
Quality art here keeps its commitment to viewers — the works ask questions or start personal stories in the reflective viewers’ minds, and the viewers fill in “the rest of the story”. In addition, this series of art crosses the cultural divide. Sunlight dances upon a crystal bowl, and there is a portrait of a Native American in tribal dress. Then, down the corridor, a well-dressed lady is the subject of the colorful painting, “Sitting Pretty” by a Jackson, Miss., artist.
These are just three of the forty pieces. Taking them in fills an afternoon.
Most people do not realize how difficult the watercolor method is, according to Gary Gee of the JSU art department. Gee is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of Alabama, which means his work has been accepted into a national show at least three times. The paintbrushes (there are four types plus specialty brushes) and paper (varying from smooth to rough) are expensive, Gee said, and there are over 100 types of colors. Watercolor, or now termed watermedia, has been called a major art from over the past 40 years. This exhibit touches humankind in a very clear way and shows how we are related to a world larger than our own.
My artist friends echo Gee’s comments — indeed, a watercolor done well is hard to do. This show is an easy display to view, but just get closer to the images. What seem to be simple finery in a flower contains shading of leaves and petals, and the tones of red, blues, and lavenders look like the real arrangements you admire.
Watercolor has a long history in many parts of the world. In Chinese and Japanese culture, it has been the dominant medium and has been used for manuscript illumination since at least Egyptian times, according to internet sources. The juror (or selector) for this exhibit is Cheng Khee Chee, who was born in Fujian, China, and grew up in Penang, which became an expanding center of artists after World War II. He has been a United States citizen for much of his life, as a librarian and teacher at University of Minnesota. Holding on to the Chinese tradition of painting but enriched by the Western tradition that he came to love, Chee, who was at the exhibit’s opening, has directed numerous workshops in this country; some of our area artists know him for that reason.
Browsing through the exhibit is a good way to see what contemporary U.S. painters are doing now. Awards were given, but in their own way, the artists are all winners.
These are two art events in May. Please see Down Art Avenue to find out about others, including the JSU opera “Pirates of Penzance” coming up.
