Theatre students at Maple Ridge Secondary are getting ready to open the doors to a very unusual flower shop, where the music is catchy, the comedy is dark, and a mysterious plant has a mind of its own.
The musical theatre class is putting on Little Shop of Horrors, a popular Broadway horror comedy, this April.
It’s “nothing like you’ve ever seen here [before] because we aren’t actually doing it in our theatre,” said Grade 12 student director Finn Dion-Fell. “We are doing it in our drama room but it’s a round theatre style, it’s like a three quarters stage…. It’s a really immersive, intimate experience.”
Dion-Fell plays the role of Seymour in the show, a meek flower assistant who falls for his coworker, Audrey. During a total eclipse, Seymour stumbles across a mysterious plant that has a curious way of making his dreams come true. But there is a catch – the plant only feeds on human flesh and blood, and Seymour must find a way to keep it alive.
“We haven’t done a Broadway-scripted musical in so long,” Dion-Fell said, adding a lot of work went into bringing the production to life, both on and off the stage.
The production team is made up of 35 students.
“We have people in the company doing woodwork, we have people in metal shop, we have cast, crew, lighting, sound,” explained Sharmila Miller Švorinić, the school’s drama and musical theatre teacher.
“The puppet-building for this is just massive, they have done an incredible job. So visual arts, set design, building, and decoration. It’s a mini theatre industry in a class,” she said.
The cast and crew have been working hard every day, according to Grade 11 student and cast member Leila Taheri.
“It’s every tutorial, lunch, after school, always,” she explained. “It’s just focusing on Little Shop so we can put on as close to perfect of a production as we can.”
Grade 10 student and cast member Isabella Messa said it’s been quite the journey – one worth seeing.
“We put everything into the show and we really want to show people how in love we are with the story, with the characters, with our friendship that we created along the process of… those seven months,” she said.
Evening performances of Little Shop of Horrors will take place at 7 p.m. on April 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17, 2026 (doors open 6:30 p.m.).
Matinee shows run 12:30 p.m. on April 14 and 15 (doors open 12 p.m.).
Tickets are $15 plus a web fee and available for purchase online.
Maple Ridge Secondary is located at 21911 122 Ave.
