Little Shop 7/2 Eve - all female cast out

[lds19]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:38am

An absolutely bizarre performance of Little Shop of Horrors in Chicago this evening (7/2) - all four regular female cast members (Audrey and the three "urchins") were out of the show. What made it bizarre is there is only one understudy for the "urchins" so she was on alone doing what I assume was a mix of all three roles. Having never seen the show before (movie excepted) so no idea if this was normal or trying to make up for the missing cast but I did notice some of the other cast members singing chorus stuff with our one "urchin" (and in the understudy announcement, she was billed as "the urchin" rather than one of three names).

Anyway, how does an entire female cast go out at the same time? We couldn't get any answers at the theater other than they were all there for the matinee. The only thing we could guess is they all went out to dinner together and got food poisoning (and it's Taste of Chicago going on right now all of two blocks from the theater so perhaps more of a possibility if they went there than at other times).

I did think the understudy Audrey (Yvette Lawrence) did a very good job as well as the understudy urchin (Iris Burruss) did as good a job as could reasonably be expected (some of the attempts to blend the roles did not work all that well but there was little choice as the alternative was to drop lines from songs).

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:40am

They're all on the same cycle?

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:42am

Oh. My. God. That is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. How the hell do you do the show with only one Urchin? I can't even imagine how that would play, especially since they have so many lines that answer each other. It must have sounded weird vocally too!

I actually wondered how the understudy situation worked since there is no chorus to move up. One of the urchins was on vacation when I saw it and they had brought in a standby.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:47am

Very interesting. ONE urchin. I don't see how that could work out.

[downbeat]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:48am

"Oh. My. God. That is the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. How the hell do you do the show with only one Urchin?"

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!! WTF??? What did she do, have conversations with herself?

I'm sure the understudy did a great job but wow...frankly, I think that would majorly suck. The "greek chorus" dynamic, both vocally and presence-wise, is an ENORMOUS part of the show.

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:57am

Can you go into more detail? That seems like something very wierd and impossible.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 12:57am

i'm half suprised there wasn't a male urchin in the mix, the audrey 2 understudy ( a friend of the family) is also the dance captain so he could have definately pulled it off in a pinch like this

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:03am

Maybe they all had tehir period at the same time and thier Midol wasn't working so they all had to go out and find some chocolate and some heating pads.


maybe??

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:07am

I saw today's matinee and everyone was in except one of the urchins and tari kelly. That is VERY weird about having one urchin. It must have been bizarre for the audience too.

It seems that Little shop has been having some problems lately, like during the matinee there was a big set problem at the end of act I. The dentist set didn't go off stage, so all you could see was Audrey II going crazy. The show curtain didn't come down all the way at intermission until someone pulled it down manually. It was also a DEAD audience. There were hardley any laughs and no big applauses.

I feel so sorry for this very talented cast. I hope everyone feels better soon!

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:08am

That is the craziest thing ever! that poor girl!

Jai: when I saw it, the audience was really dead too...I don't think people understand what Little Shop is REALLY like!

Updated On: 7/3/05 at 01:08 AM

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:09am

That is very bizzare that the y were all out on the same day. And I still do not understand how the show could've been done with only one urchin.

[alphieboy]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:18am

Oh, my! How bizarre indeed! Is this possible? I could not imagine? How very strange....

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:21am

That is so weird. When I saw it one urchin was out ans someone covered the role, the acting, singing, dancing, and set seemed fantastic. There were some sound problems but it wasn't that bad. The audience laughed and clapped too. I wonder what is happening. Tari Kelly is amzing! (Just adding that in )
Updated On: 7/3/05 at 01:21 AM

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:24am

i'm so confused. i just don't know how the show was performed. i'm really surprised they didn't cancel and offer exchanges. that poor understudy. god bless her soul for what must have been over 2 hours of misery... not to mention the prep time she spent probably so nervous of what she was going to do. i can't imagine.

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:26am

I feel bad for the Urchin, but she made it through (hopefully) So that is good.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:26am

wow poor iris! oh no! that really is horrible, well i know they'll all get better and return to their regular roles, I hope Iris doesnt have to go on by herself again, poor woman. I agree they could've had a male go in with her...well thats what happens sometimes! its called THEATRE! haha

[Tari Kelly]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:31am

Hi, everyone. I'm Tari Kelly, Audrey on the tour of Little Shop of Horrors. I'd like to set the record straight about Sat. evening. For everyone's info there is a terrible sickness running rampant through our cast. Jonathan Rayson, Seymour, had is last week and now I have it as well as the urchins. We cannot sing - it has attacked our vocal chords. It is not food poisoning, our periods, or anything like that. I have now been out for 3 shows in a row which is highly unusual being I've only missed 3 other shows in the past year and those were back in November when I had pretty much the same sickness. Our 3 regular urchins have also been fighting it all week and one of them came in on Thursday only to make it halfway through before having to go home - mind you our wonderful understudy was already on for another urchin at the time. What happened Saturday night is very rare but sometimes there's just no stopping nature. Once someone in the cast gets sick it's usually only a matter of time before everyone has their bout with it. It has just snowballed much to everyone's dismay. Just thought you all might like to know the truth.

Now whether or not the show should have been canceled due to 1 urchin....... that's another subject ......

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:35am

aww....so sorry....Hope everyone gets 100% better

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:35am

Tari- That is awful what is happening. Feel better to you and the rest of the cast! You are all amazing!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:35am

thank you for coming on to talk to us tari! i hope you are feeling better... do you have any information as to how the show went with only one urchin? simply because i can't imagine it.

[downbeat]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 1:36am

Hi Tari,

Thank you for setting the record straight on that, and I hope everyone gets better soon! As I said, I'm sure Iris did a fantastic job under the circumstances.

In addition, I saw you in Los Angeles last year and you were FANTASTIC as Audrey! I also vividly remember how you spent about ten minutes talking to my girlfriend and I outside the stage door until WE finally had to run due to the cold! I really appreciated the performance, and the graciousness.

Thanks,
Scott

Updated On: 7/3/05 at 01:36 AM

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 2:43am

Oh my,

That is intense. Gotta love the live nature of Theatre. Send out well wishes to the cast Tari. I hear you guys are doing an amazing job. I do think, however, that they should have tried putting some male swings on. If anything it would have interesting. By the way, I'm a big fan Tari!

Akiva

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 2:44am

That is INTERESTING! A lot of the show must have been changed around!

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 2:50am

I appreciate you joining BWW to clear that up, Tari. We all love you and the entire cast!

PLEASE stay with the show for a LITTLE while longer, lol. I want to see you again in Cleveland (November). I saw you in Cincinnati, and you instantly became one of my favorite performers. A lot had to do with how sweet you were to everyone at the stage door.

I hope you, Latonya, Yasmeen, and Amina get well very quickly. Could you explain to us how Iris handled the three roles? She must be great! She played an urchin full time originally on tour, I believe.

Updated On: 7/3/05 at 02:50 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/3/05 at 2:54am

Feel better!