Feed me, Seymour!

COEUR d’ALENE — The theater students at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy have a voracious appetite for their craft … almost as voracious as a certain carnivorous singing plant named Audrey II.

"The anticipation of getting to put on a live show and put ourselves out there for an audience and have that interaction and have that life put into you when you’re on stage, it’s something we’ve all been longing for," senior Sophie Anderson said Wednesday. "Having the opportunity to return to that sense of normalcy provides a lot of hope and is really exciting."

For the first time since the COVID outbreak, Charter's young thespians are stepping back into the spotlight in a big way with "Little Shop of Horrors."

It's a tale of flower shop assistant Seymour who is in love with his co-worker Audrey. He buys an exotic plant he names Audrey II in honor of his love interest, but soon finds the plant takes on a larger-than-life personality that includes belting out catchy tunes and an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

"This show is just incredible in all aspects of it," said junior Jacob McGaughey, who voices Audrey II. "Normally it's a high-tech show. But we get to do it, even though it is a high-tech show, but on a low budget."

Theater instructor Dana Fleming said when she asked this year's seniors if they wanted to attempt a musical, with the understanding that anything could change and shut things down, they were all in.

"We managed to perform our outside production in December," Fleming said. "The current rules allow for a decent-sized audience, and as the kids work long hours with choreography, with harmonies, with drills, with sewing machines, and with papier mache, there looms over each of us that gut-sinking possibility of things changing, and quickly. We watched it happen last year."

But these students are not deterred, she said.

"When we began this process in early March, I was nervous," Fleming said. "I was tired, everyone was tired. But I was blown away by the energy actors and technicians showed up with. They are hungry to create and to engage. This is something we have all longed for, whether we knew it or not."

Show times are 7 p.m. April 30, May 1, and May 6 through 8. The show will be held in the school's multipurpose room. Admission is $5 for high school students and younger, $10 for general admission and $20 for front row VIP seating. Tickets are limited to 200 per show and will be available for purchase online at www.cdacharter.org under the "Online School Store" tab or at the door.

Audience members are asked to wear masks. Anyone who does not feel safe should not attend.