The Camden High School Musical “Little Shop of Horrors” was a show built around larger-than-life and unconventional characters. The show's antagonist, Audrey II, checks both of those boxes and certainly attracts its fair share of attention throughout the show. It's hard to miss a carnivorous, power-hungry, extraterrestrial venus fly trap that pops up in the middle of an urban florist shop.
Behind the imposing exterior of Audrey II was a remarkable team effort between staff and multiple generations of students that have brought the character to life on the CHS stage. That effort encompassed a total of six puppets, two productions, countless hours of work, and a fourteen-year gap between performances.
One of the constant links between each year’s musical production has been CHS Science teacher Steve Keller. He has been the set construction director for each musical during his two-decade career in the Camden Central School District, beginning with the 2004 Camden High School production of Grease. His interest in engineering came together with an urgent need to find a set constructor, and the rest was history.
“When I started teaching here, I basically told Kim Bird that I liked to build stuff and asked if they needed help,” Keller said. “And it turned out that she was actually down a set director at that point, so she invited me on. I got to see backstage and how we put the resources to use. As the years progressed, I got better at research and figured out what I could and couldn’t do on the stage.”
Before the 2009 production of Little Shop of Horrors, that research went to another level. The show required the construction of four puppets, representing the various stages of growth in Audrey II. It starts as a small puppet, grows to a larger hand puppet, and then takes on two larger sizes as the storyline crescendos towards its end.
The two smaller puppets were the handiwork of Diane Lundrigan and Sue Teelin. Their efforts from that earlier show remained on display in 2023, as those original puppets were refreshed and revitalized to be used again. The first puppet, a table top model, was controlled by Keller's daughter Isabella in this year’s production. Lead actor Gianni Liberatore incorporated a bit of puppetry into his act as Seymour by controlling the second puppet himself. He did so through a false arm built to preserve the illusion that they were two separate characters, even though Liberatore was actually holding it himself.
Meanwhile, the larger puppets had more primitive beginnings, and a much shorter shelf life. The 2009 editions of these on-stage behemoths, known on the set as “Pod 3” and “Pod 4”, were less refined than their current generation counterparts. They were built on a plastic skeleton made of PEX tubing, a cross linked polyethylene tubing that was flexible, lightweight, and relatively cost-effective. The frames were covered in layers of fabric, which added a lot of weight.
By Keller’s admission, the PEX tubing did not give the original designs the best structural stability with the added weight, but the show was successful.
2023 provided a second chance to get it right and pursue a more perfect design for Pod 3 and Pod 4. Keller could show what he’s learned through years of experience, while implementing a variety of ideas he accumulated through extensive research.
Keller started by looking at the mechanics of Audrey II in the 1986 film adaptation directed by the legendary Frank Oz, which featured over 20 principal puppeteers for the character. Keller also closely examined the puppets available for rent through licensing companies and prop houses around the country. These were more closely aligned with his goal of producing functional and aesthetically correct puppets for the production that could be handled by a smaller group and be reverse engineered and constructed in-house.
With a vast array of information in hand, Keller constructed the larger pods using PVC pipe and foam noodles for the frame. He sought the counsel of Teelin and Lundrigan on what fabric should cover the structure, and learned a great deal about the difference between fabric that can stretch only two ways, and fabric that can achieve a four-way stretch.
Pod 3 was constructed over approximately three weeks. Keller worked three hours a night and four days a week in its construction, with several students providing assistance. The exterior was a fabric-covered PVC frame. Sophomore Dalton Smith served as puppeteer, and was seatbelted inside that frame. His head and left arm were positioned in the upper jaw, while his right arm sat in the lower jaw. He held onto PVC bars inside the jaw assembly that allowed him to open the mouth and bring the character to life. Smith’s legs were inside the roots.
For Pod 4, Smith remained in the puppeteer role. Keller considered several options to build around him, including a lever-operated design used in professional productions. After careful consideration, Keller wanted to optimize the use of the stage’s depth, and the movement of the character at the end of the show.
Those objectives led him to a mobile design constructed around a metal backpack frame. Keller built a PVC enclosure around the backpack to provide for the rounded, fully-grown exterior of Audrey II in the later scenes. Using that backpack, he was able to move left and right, and eventually walk forward at the end of the show. The design’s flexibility also allowed for a bit of hollywood-style magic.
During the scenes where the characters are eaten by Audrey II, the actors and actresses were able to slide into the puppet’s mouth, and quickly through Smith’s legs to get backstage without being seen by the audience.
The design was functional and optimal for the show’s needs, but it did have some challenges to accompany it. The puppet was a bit heavier than anticipated, and the jaw structure shifted the center of gravity forward, which made it a bit more difficult to carry. Nonetheless, the concept turned out to be a terrific fit and a vast improvement over the original.
Providing aesthetic improvements to the puppets were Camden High School art students, and other staff and community volunteers led by teacher and production art director Amy Andrews. The character's voice actress was Sydney Matthews.
While the challenge of engineering larger-than-life characters has been fun and engaging, Keller says he’s motivated by the human side of the production.
“It’s really about the joy of seeing the kids at the very end,” Keller said. “They’ve had this great time together, they come together as a family, and people who may not otherwise necessarily hang out together discover new friends. It’s a great creative process and a good mental outlet, but I really like the connections we make with the students. That’s why I do this.”
