The new semester brings new projects for the University of Rhode Island’s fine arts students. This semester two productions are going to be put on in the Fine Arts Center’s J Studio. This semester’s play is William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and the musical is “Little Shop of Horrors,” written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
Last month, auditions were held for “Macbeth” and director Lisa Wolpe was sent videos of all the auditions as she was directing abroad in Prague.
“I got about 50 video auditions from actors in the program,” Wolpe said. “From that, I was able to select the cast pretty quickly because they all did such a beautiful job.”
The cast list came out, and they went straight into rehearsals, rehearsing for three hours in the evenings after everyone’s classes had ended.
“Macbeth” is a story about a bloodthirsty king, driven to madness by his yearning for power and viewers can expect to see violence in this production.
“We’ve got a lot of murder and a lot of blood,” Wolpe said. “There’s going to be some supernatural events and terrifying sequences.”
The audience will be entered into the world of “Macbeth” as there are going to be interactive elements in the lobby before the show.
“We’re going to be doing some pop-ups in local restaurants and different events in the dining hall to get a wide variety of people interested,” Wolpe said.
Wolpe herself is a Shakespeare expert, having spent over 40 years immersing herself in Shakespeare’s many different plays. She is guest-directing “Macbeth” as she is from California and met staff members of URI’s fine arts program in the United Kingdom.
A leader in the push for gender parity in the arts, Wolpe makes sure that her shows are diversely cast in gender, race, religion, and sexuality.
“Everybody is just enthusiastic,” Wolpe said. “Everybody is happy to die, everybody is happy to pretend to murder each other, male, female, it doesn’t matter.”
“Macbeth” will open on Feb. 22-25, and will continue on Feb. 29 until March 3.
Theatre lovers can also catch “Little Shop of Horrors,” directed by Paula McGlasson later this semester, although it will be a little bit different than “Macbeth.”
“It should be a fun experience,” McGlasson said. “It’s campy, it’s cartoonish, people should expect to feel a connection.”
With auditions just last week and callbacks coming up, “Little Shop of Horrors” is in the early stages of its development, but the actors already seem excited by the prospect of a new show.
“I mean our audition slots are filled up,” McGlasson said. “And of course, I’m very hopeful that some very talented and committed people will come before us.”
“Little Shop of Horrors” has been popular since the film came out in the 80’s. With iconic characters like Audrey II, a man-hungry Venus fly trap, and beautiful ballads such as the tear-jerking “Suddenly Seymour,” fans have been flocking to this show for decades.
“It’s a great show, it’s a comedy, many people say it’s a fan favorite,” McGlasson said.
In the coming weeks, many people including actors, costume designers, stage managers, set designers, directors, instrumentalists and others will put together the pieces of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
“I like pulling it all together,” McGlasson said. “I like all of the different threads coming together to make one big tapestry.”
“Little Shop of Horrors” opens on April 18-21, and continues for its second run on April 25-28.
Tickets for both shows can be bought in person, over the phone or on the URI theatre department’s website.