‘Tis the season… for a trip to the Little Shop of Horrors.
The former Academy Award-nominated musical and popular dark comedy is playing October 10-20 at the James and Gloria Maron Cultural Arts Center in Providence. RI-based actor, comedian, and WUN contributor Frank O’Donnell is producing the show, working with Academy Players, a community theater troupe based in the capital city.
“’Little Shop’ is dark, but there’s a lot of fun in it,” said O’Donnell in a recent phone interview. “It’s kind of a reflection of today, where something innocent turns into something malevolent, and tries to take over the world. There’s some great music in it and a really cool, bizarre love story.”
The shows also serve as the annual fundraiser for Heavenly Gingers, an umbrella label that supports two charities: Jessie’s Dream, in honor of O’Donnell’s niece Jessica Morris, and the Keri Anne O’Donnell Memorial Fund, a scholarship fund in memory of O’Donnell’s daughter. “They were both great performers; they loved to sing, they loved to dance, and they loved to act,” added O’Donnell. “They were both redheads with fiery personalities. We started calling them our heavenly gingers.”
O’Donnell is producing the show, working behind the scenes, and sitting in on rehearsals. “We have a new director, Shania Fenton,” he said. “This is her first show, and we have a couple of kids that have received scholarships; we have a very high level of talent.”
In the spirit of community theater, the production features two separate casts. “We have two casts for this production; we try to do that to give people the opportunity to perform,” explained O’Donnell. “It’s so tough to pick, because you know you’re going to disappoint people. You also have double the amount of people who are promoting it.”
O’Donnell has performed with numerous local companies over the years and has worked with Academy Players for about a decade. “My first show with them was Suessical, where I played the Mayor of Whoville,” he said. “In addition to presenting great shows, they kind of match up with my philosophy; they always have a charitable element to their shows, to benefit one charity or another.”
The first Heavenly Gingers was held at Twin River, where O’Donnell has been working at the comedy club, Catch a Rising Star. Over 500 people showed up in the first year, “We ended up doing nine of them,” O’Donnell explained. “A few years ago, our friend Ellie Fontaine asked if they could do a musical at Academy to benefit the two funds. They ended up doing Godspell, and it went very well. I was the man in the yellow suit; I looked like an evil banana.”
“Last year, we did the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and every kid who was in the show was a scholarship recipient.” O’Donnell has also worked with North Providence High School, where Keri attended, Next Stop Broadway, and PPAC’s arts scholarship program. Over the past 13 years, the Keri Anne O’Donnell Memorial Fund has distributed over $175,000 in grants, to well over 300 young performers, a significant achievement.
Little Shop of Horrors runs October 10-20 at the Academy Players Performance space at 180 Button Hole Drive in Providence. Click here for details.
Check out some rehearsal photos below. All photos by Frank O’Donnell.
