Massachusetts production of "Little Shop of Horrors" brings innovation to acting, puppeteering
"Little Shop of Horrors" premiered off-Broadway more than 40 years ago, but the musical is just as beloved in 2025. Now the fan-favorite production is bringing an alien plant with a taste for blood to Massachusetts.
The voice of Audrey II and the puppeteer who brings the man-eating plant to life form a partnership unlike any other on stage.
In the Greater Boston Stage Company's new production, while Anthony Pires, Junior gives voice to Audrey II, it's puppeteer Sydney Grant who creates the movement.
She says, "I can't see anybody. And so I just have to track where people's voices are in the space and hope I'm correct."
Anthony is backstage at a microphone during the entire show, so for him, "It's a lot about imagination and finding the ability to just figure out how to create your own map."
During rehearsal, director Ilana Ransome Toeplitz had Anthony walk through every scene, telling him to "pretend that you are a real person who is anthropomorphized as a plant. And then we moved him to the chair, and then we had Sydney come in and watch Anthony's mannerisms so that they could break together and become one entity. "
Anthony explains, "We found a motion throughout the rehearsal process of working together to have me be behind them (Sydney) while they're doing the motions."
Three different puppets used
Sydney operates three different Audrey II puppets during each performance, starting with the tabletop version.
She says, "I'm working with my shadow on the back wall to know where I'm looking or if somebody's approaching. And occasionally, I'm sticking out (from under the table) to look up at our Seymour and see when he's trying to feed me. "
Sydney wears a costume for the second plant, while the third is made of foam, fabric and PVC pipe.
While she performs on stage, Anthony tells us he looks through a screen setup backstage to make sure "that the plant is mimicking what I'm talking about or highlighting. But also, I do my own physicalities in here just to make sure that I'm portraying and giving that plant that same feeling."
You can check out the Greater Boston Stage Company's production of Little Shop of Horrors in Stoneham through Sunday, June 29th.
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