For those familiar with the show Behind The Music of VH1 the idea behind my play is a similar concept to that only instead of pop music I decided to focus on Broadway Musicals. I am planning on doing a series of plays once I get this script done based on shows I've either been in or worked on over the course of the last 5 years of course this would include the plays I worked on at NLBP.
The first play in what I hope will be a seires is based on the characters from Little Shop of Horrors. The struggle I have been having is with incorporating the theree do-op girls Chiffon Ronnette and Crystal into my script. From my basic knowledge of the play they kind of represent a greek chorus type of thing so it is really hard to give them a back story other than the obvious fact that they live on Skid Row like the other characters in the play. If anyone has been in Little Shop of Horrors and played these three chracters and could help me out with character development that would be super.
I should also make a note that this play is based on the movie ending and not the play ending.
The rough draft of the script is below.
Beyond Skid Row
by Janine Leffler
Cast of Characters
(in order of appearance)
2 Newscasters (can be male or female)
Mrs Shiva- Wife of Mr. Shiva who owns a funeral home on Skid Row. Approximate Age 45-50 yrs; Jewish
Mrs. Scrivello Mother of Orin Scrivello DDS approximate age 45-50 yrs old
Seymour Krelborn approximate age 25-30 years old
Audrey Krelborn Seymour's Wife approximate 25-30 years old
Chiffon approximate 16-20 years old close friend of Audrey and Seymour
Ronnette approximate age 16-20 years old close friend of Audrey and Seymour
Crystal appoximate age 16-20 years old close friend of Audrey and SeymourNewscaster 1: Welcome to Behind The Music Broadway where we focus on Broadway Show Characters. Today we are going to be featuring interviews with the characters from Little Shop of Horrors and see what they have done since departing from the wretchedness of Skid Row.
Newscaster 2: Our first interview is with Mrs. Shiva, a valued customer of Mr. Mushnik.’s Flower Shop formerly located at 1313 Skid Row She will talk about what it like to hear about the news of Mushnik’s sudden passing. Welcome Mrs. Shiva.
Mrs. Shiva: Thank You. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Newscaster 2: What was your reaction when you first heard about the Audrey 2?
Mrs. Shiva: I was very happy. Mushnik’s clientele was doing very poorly before Seymour Krelborn started taking care of the Audrey 2. Things started to get better for business after Audrey 2 was introduced to the general public of Skid Row.
Newscaster I: When you heard about Mushnik’s sudden disappearance were you surprised?Mrs. Shiva: Oh yes, it was very surprising when Mushink disappeared, rather unexpected as well.
Newscaster 2: Were you under suspiscion that Audrey 2 could have had something to do with his disappearance?
Mrs. Shiva: Not at first, but then I heard something in the news about Audrey 2 needing human blood to keep living. I wasn’t sure if that was just my imagination or if it was true.
Newscaster 1: Well, luckily we have Seymour Krelborn in the studio with us today in the studio because we plan to interview him and his wife Audrey later on in the broadcast, would you to like to ask him that question while we have here?
Mrs. Shiva: Yes, it would be great to have some clarification.(Seymour enters and sits down in a chair across from Mrs, Shiva)
Newscaster 2: Welcome Seymour and thank you for being willing to talk to Mrs. Shiva today.
Seymour: You’re quite welcome. Hello Mrs. Shiva.
Mrs. Shiva: Hello Seymour, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you on the news. Perhaps you can shed some light on Audrey 2 for me and the pain it has caused to the clientele of Mushnik‘s Skid Row Flower Shop.
Seymour: To be honest I didn’t really expect Audrey 2 to be a blood thirsty monster I assumed it would be just be a normal plant like any other plant in my plant identification books. I was wrong much to my misfortune.
Mrs. Shiva: Do you realize how much Mr. Mushnik cared about you?
Seymour: Yes, I do and I had a lot of respect for him. I didn’t want to feed him to Audrey 2 but it had a very controlling attitude unfortunately.
Mrs. Shiva: How much longer did the plant stay alive after Mushnik died?Seymour: Not very long. It tried to eat Audrey and I would have been extremely devastated if Audrey had to succumb to Audrey 2’s greedy ways. I had to put my foot down. So I took out my machete and tore it to shreds and I am happy to report that no one will hear anything more about that horrid plant Audrey 2.
Mrs Shiva (smiling) Well that is good and very comforting to know. Thank you for your comforting clarification.
Seymour: You’re quite welcome.
(Seymour and Mrs. Shiva stand up ,shake hands and exit)(Mrs. Scrivello enters and takes a seat in the chair that has been vacated by Mrs. Shiva)
Newscaster 1: We thank Mr. Krelborn for coming in. He will back later on in the show with his wife Audrey and they will talk about their life together since leaving Skid Row. Our next guest is Mrs. Edna Scrivello, mother of deceased dentist Orin Scrivello. Welcome Mrs. Scrivello.
Mrs. Scrivello: Hello and thank you very much for having me on your show today.
Newscaster 1: You’re welcome. We’re delighted to have you. How have been dealing with the death of your son?
Mrs. Scrivello: I try to take things day by day. My son was very misunderstood by so many people.Newscaster 1: How do you mean?
Mrs. Scrivello: I understand he may not have been the best match for Audrey romantically but I think others were far too judgmental of his love for dentistry.
Newscaster 1: In what way do you think they were too judgmental?
Mrs. Scrivello: Well people thought that he had too much of a fascination or almost an obsession with other people’s pain. I would classify it more as a fascination than an obsession though. He had a true love for dentistry and think a lot of people overlooked that about him because they thought he was too obsessed with other people’s pain.Newscaster 1: When you heard the news that Orin’s office had been ransacked did you have any suspicion that it might have had something to do with Audrey 2?Mrs. Scrivello: Well I did see a bag and a baseball cap that looked they belonged to Seymour Krelborn at the scene of the crime but from the previous segment with Mrs. Shiva he seems like a nice boy. I didn’t think that he had anything to do with Orin’s death and I still don’t think he had a lot to do with his death.Newscaster 1: What was the one thing that tipped you off to the idea that Seymour could have been innocent?Mrs. Scrivello: The fact that the gas masks were all over the place. Orin was always playing around with the buttons on those stupid gas masks playing with the air intake controls. He always said it something to do with feeling the ultimate pleasure while he was operating on his patients but I warned him that it could be deadly. He never listened.
Newscaster 1: Will anyone take over for Orin?
Mrs. Scrivello: Sadly ,no. Orin was the only dentist in the family. No one else had such a passion for dentistry as he did.. It’s honestly the biggest shame.
Newscaster 1: Thank you for taking the time to meet us today Mr. Scrivello.
Mrs. Scrivello: You’re quite welcome.
(Mrs. Scrivello exits. Seymour and Audrey enter and sit on the couch)
Newscaster 1: And now we welcome Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Krelborn to our set. Hello Audrey and Seymour.
Audrey: We’re very happy to be here today. Thank you for having us on your show this evening.
Newscaster 1: Seymour you spoke with Mrs Shiva earlier about your heroic destruction of Audrey 2. What have you and Audrey done since then?
Seymour: Well I got into quite a battle with the plant because it did not want to die it tried to eat me but I stood my ground. Mushnik’s Skid Row Flower Shop is no longer standing. Audrey and I have gotten married and we just returned from our honeymoon.
Newscaster 1: and where did you honeymoon?
Audrey: We went to Aruba on our honeymoon it was beautiful.
Newscaster 1: Where are you two currently living?
Audrey: Well if you recall the song “Somewhere That’s Green” from the musical I sang about living in a little development in a suburb far far from urban Skid Row. Seymour made that dream come true for me.
(Seymour and Audrey kiss)Newscaster 1: And what professions do you both have?Seymour: I opened a flower shop down the street from our house called Seymour’s House of Plants. Audrey works for me currently as a secretary but she is carrying our first child. We are very excited about becoming parents.
One this play is done being written I hope to direct in a local youth theatre and as I fine tune it I want to make sure it is age apporpriate for the age group I am going to direct. Obviously I have a long way to go with it which is why I need people's feedback.
Once this play is done I plan on adding more titles to the series. I am planning to base my scripts off the following musicals. If you have been in any of these shows please feel free to suggest ideas for future scripts I would very much appreciate them. Thanks. I know that Grease has had a sequel movie done to it (which I personally thought was horrible)
- RENT
- Grease
- Hairspray
- Wicked
- Oaklahoma
- Annie Get Your Gun
- Peter Pan
- Carosuel (maybe this one could be a one woman show that focusses on the chracter Louise IDK)
- Annie
- Sound of Music
- HAIR
- Cabaret
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