Musical theater workshop feeds into cult classic
By Bren Belmonte and Lena Moreno, March 24, 2026
Sweeping the floor of New York’s run-down Mushnick’s Flower Shop on Skid Row, surrounded by poverty and gloom, a hopeful protagonist wishes for a better life outside the decaying urban city.
Performed at the Recital Hall in Building 24, the musical theater workshop class, music and non-music department students staged a production of “Little Shop of Horrors” March 20-22.
Set in 1960s New York, the production curated a retro set of Mushnick’s Flower Shop with hand-made signs, a wooden door and shelves decorated with vibrant flowers. Within the lived-in shop, a messy desk scattered with newspapers, a telephone and a money box set the tone as chaos soon took root.
Protagonist Seymour Krelborn, played by Gabriel Blizzard, is an orphan and clumsy florist assistant at Mushnik’s Flower Shop. Throughout the musical, Krelborn faces a moral dilemma after nurturing Audrey II, a plant that craves only one thing: humans.
Audrey II, played by Randell Milan, is a fast-growing venus flytrap that brought public attention to Krelborn’s amateur botanist career and the flower shop. Blizzard said he has a connection with Krelborn’s determination, performing from lived experience.
“I was always the clumsy guy, always making a mess, always doing wrong s—, and I related to his intelligence and his obsession with things,” Blizzard said. “I was a kid who would really hone in on things I was obsessed with. So, to get the opportunity to play this role is a full circle moment.”
Audrey, played by music pedagogy student Gracie Padilla, is Krelborn’s love interest and a self-deprecating, kind-hearted woman working at Mushnick’s flower shop. She is in an abusive relationship with a dentist named Orin Scrivello, played by music student Sebastian Padilla.
In the song “Somewhere That’s Green,” Audrey conveys her desires of a happy life “far from Skid Row.”
“Before I sing ‘Somewhere That’s Green,’ I have to look at my notes and my script,” Padilla said. “I’m like ‘OK, she’s feeling worthless. She feels like this is something she can never have,’ and I portray those emotions.”
Padilla said her biggest challenge was maintaining Audrey’s high-pitched New York accent, but she committed to the tedious process of not breaking her character’s voice by repeating lines for long periods of time.
According to Blizzard, he also focused on capturing the gentleness of Krelborn and Audrey’s relationship, which differs from characters such as the dentist or Mushnick.
Apart from the leads, the Urchins and other ensemble members were the citizens of Skid Row, storytelling through dance, brief dialogue and singing.
In the song “Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors,” the Urchins mix doo-op girl group vocals with foreshadowing lyrics of an eventual dark tone such as, “Tell your mama, something’s gonna get her” and “Boop-shoo-bop, you’ll never stop the terror.”
“The Urchins blend in with the story along with the main cast,” said Urchin ensemble member and visual communication design student Kaley Espiridion. “We’re integrated into the story. We have to tell the parts that the main characters won’t tell you.”
With her background in jazz, choreographer and Urchin Gabrielle Amador said she implemented jazz-inspired choreography focusing on arm movement rather than legs to provide cast members with more breath support.
“(The) challenges with choreographing are trying to create choreography that suits the entire cast,” Amador said. “It’s pretty different because we have nine urchins rather than three.”
Blizzard said that the bond shared between him and his castmates along with collective passion for the production made it easier to navigate his acting choices. Blizzard also said the positive dynamic with his castmates turned rehearsal into an accepting creative space.
“My favorite element is just seeing the way the students work together and seeing the joy that they’re getting from developing the relationships together,” said director and musical theater workshop professor Kendra Jump.
After months of rehearsal and collaboration, the cast took the stage at the Recital Hall in March 2026. Performing three songs at the “Little Shop of Horrors: Halloween Spooktacular” recital in October 2025, the production showcased the year-long preparation.
The culmination of the recital preview and final performances demonstrated the cast’s musical abilities and creative talent, from lighting and technical cues to student-run initiatives that brought the world of Skid Row to life.
