In Friday's 7 section, I have an interview with Mark Norwood, director of Reedley's River City Theatre Company new production of "Little Shop of Horrors." Here's a continuation of the interview:

Question: Talk a little about the production. Is this going to be a big technical challenge for your small space?

Answer: I think that the creative use of our limited space is perhaps the thing that I am most proud of as we near the end or our 5th year round season. For Pump Boys And Dinettes we hung a 1946 Dodge off of our stage right wall and still managed to have the “Double Cup Diner”, “Jim’s Garage”, a four piece band and a cast of 7occupy the playing area. With the addition of a forestage, a thrust and balcony extensions, we have produced Big River, Music Man, and Oliver with casts averaging 25 performers. We have also turned the stage into a functioning beauty salon for Steel Magnolias and a saloon for The People Vs. Mona.

With all that said, Little Shop Of Horrors does present some very big challenges for our “little” Opera House.

The first task was to locate our Audrey II, the strange and unusual plant that winds up bent on world conquest. I contacted several theatres and puppet companies around the country who provide the plants for rental to other theatres producing Little Shop. Needless to say that cost was a main consideration and many of the plants were priced well beyond our means. Fortunately we found an outfit in the Bay Area that was happy to work with us and we struck a deal over a year ago. We viewed the plants on line and the quality was outstanding. The Puppet Company provided us with the dimensions of the plants so that we could design our set accordingly. The action of the play takes place in and around “Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists” a flower shop in a very run down section of a very large city. Our challenge was to have a flower shop large enough to accommodate the full sized Audrey II and still have acting room in and outside the shop. The technical solves involve trap doors, hidden areas on a variety of levels.

In addition to the technical obstacles, Little Shop requires a talented ensemble to be able to pack the punch necessary to pull off the musical and acting challenges. As our audiences have grown, so too has our casting pool. Word has spread that our blend of nice people and high expectations leads to rewarding experiences for our casts. For Little Shop, we have performers from Visalia, Clovis, and Hanford as well as Reedley. As a director, this cast has been an absolute joy to work with.

I know that a few of the cast members are reprising their roles from when Mark worked at Reedley High School and produced the play there. Tell us about that.

I had the privilege of working for Kings Canyon Unified from 1993 to 2003 in the capacity of Theatre Arts Coordinator. Not only did I direct the high school plays at Reedley High, but I was also in charge of developing programs for other grade levels. I created a group called the “K.C. Showcase” which was comprised of students from the 3rd through 12th grades. The “Showcase” was a performance ensemble along the lines of G.C.P.’s Junior Company which I directed in the 1980’s. The Showcase became an incredible feeder system for Reedley High’s performing arts programs and many of the cast members in River City Theatre shows are students that I have known from as young as 8 years of age. Many of the parents also became involved and are important members of our theatre family still today. Another part of my job description as Theatre Arts Coordinator was to produce a “Community Show” using students, KCUSD Staff, and community members. It was through this assignment that I began my directing life in the Reedley Opera House and began to experiment with different ways to use the building in a creative fashion.

Michael Angel began working in the Kings Canyon theatre programs in the 5th grade. He is reprising his role of “Seymour” in this production of Little Shop of Horrors. Reedley High produced the show in 2002. Other cast members that were also in the RHS production are Janay Flynn and Holly Salcido (Urchins) and Jeff Lusk (Audrey II voice). Matt Bolden who was in the ensemble in 2002 is playing the bass guitar for this production.