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Suddenly Azzopardi....
7th May
2007
 After
re-establishing itself as one of Victoria’s leading musical theatre
companies with the runaway success of the Victorian Amateur Musical
premiere of SHOUT! The Legend of the Wild One last October,
Williamstown Musical Theatre Company is presenting a smaller, but by
no means less-extravagant, production of Little Shop of Horrors in
May.
In presenting the off-Broadway musical comedy about a dorky
florist’s assistant who raises a megalomaniacal plant on human
blood, WMTC has enlisted an intimate and talented cast and
production team from across Melbourne, as well as the help of a
dual-Guild winning costume designer John Azzopardi.
Azzopardi created history last year by winning the Guild for Best
Wardrobe in two separate shows – the first time a person has won a
joint award in the one category in the same year. In a similar
vain, Azzopardi is keeping himself busy in Little Shop of Horrors by
having the dual roles of being co-costume designer and playing the
lead, ‘Seymour Krelborn’.
“It has been a bit difficult juggling the two roles in the show,”
Azzopardi admits. “Fortunately I am not alone. Sarah Douglas is my
co-designer and she has, as usual, been doing an extraordinary job
of picking up my slack!”
 Being
the lead role in a production is hard enough, but Azzopardi loves
the challenge of his dual roles. “The main challenge is juggling my
time to be able to do both,” he says. “You want to do your best in
all roles so it's hard to find the same amount of time to dedicate
to both. Costuming takes a lot of time, particularly in construction
and in this show Sarah and I wanted to make the costumes properly
and not rush them. So it has been interesting finding time to learn
lines, practice blocking, working on my puppetry skills and create
original looking costumes”.
For many years, Azzopardi has set the Victorian amateur musical
scene alight backstage with his work in costuming, working with
companies such as Whitehorse and CLOC while receiving fantastic
accolades along the way, the zenith being last year’s Guilds.
However on stage, it’s been ten years since his last major role as
‘Papageno’ in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute whilst he was attending
an opera studio, hence his nervousness at auditioning.
“I have always loved Little Shop of Horrors and have always wanted
to play ‘Seymour’,” he says. “I have not had the confidence to
audition for anything for quite some time but I was already lined up
to co-design this show with Sarah Douglas. It was while I was
hanging around at auditions – checking out who I could possibly be
dressing – that I decided to audition. The calibre of auditionees
was incredible and got me very excited about the show. So I pulled
my finger out and booked an audition. The rest - as they say - is
history”.
 Many
people who either saw SHOUT! The Legend of the Wild One or were a
part of last October’s extravagant show commented on, apart from
many other things, how brilliant the costumes were and how friendly
WMTC was to its members and its patrons. Azzopardi reiterates this
as he credits Sarah Douglas (who is also co-costume designer for
Little Shop of Horrors) and the company’s affable nature as major
assets that WMTC has. “Sarah Douglas is brilliant,” he says. “WMTC
are lucky to have one of the most incredible costumers working in
Melbourne at the moment on their committee. The fact that she works
for WMTC, as a volunteer, is incredible and her work is amazing. The
feeling at WMTC is also quite nice. They are a small company but
they are a friendly one and you certainly do feel welcome”.
Capitalising on the talent that last October’s production attracted,
Azzopardi says that the talent in Little Shop of Horrors is
brilliant.
 “We are
lucky enough to have Elethea Sartorelli, one of the most incredibly
talented women in theatre at the moment as ‘Audrey’. Not only is
she beautiful and talented, but also she is funny and one of the
loveliest people I know. Wayne Motton as ‘Mr. Mushnik’ is very
funny; he brings with him some incredible experience and is a
pleasure to work with. Blake Testro as ‘Orin’ is incredibly funny
and a brilliant actor. Our ‘Crystal’,
‘Ronnette’ and ‘Chiffon’ (Katy Roose, Sharon Kirschner and Loretta
Coustley) will blow you away with their incredible voices and are
truly a delight to work with. Our ensemble (Matthew Sheahan,
Annaliese Todd and Laura Wilkinson) is one of the hardest working I
have encountered ever and they are wonderful. Nathan Lane as plant
puppeteer is one very patient and very hard working actor - look out
for him in a few cameos as well. George Tsatsakis is powerful as the
voice of ‘Audrey 2’.
“This is a really energetic and exciting cast to be working with and
I think that audiences will have a great time”.
Don’t miss your chance to see WMTC’s production of Little Shop of
Horrors
Opening night is sold out, however there are still good tickets left
to see this
fantastic production:
Friday 11th May @ 8.00pm (SOLD OUT)
Saturday 12th May @ 8.00pm
Sunday 13th May @ 2.00pm ** (Mothers Day)
Friday 18th May @ 8.00pm
Saturday 19th May @ 8.00pm
Sunday 20th May @ 2.00pm
Thursday 24th May @ 8.00pm
Friday 25th May @ 8.00pm
Saturday 26th May @ 8.00pm
Bookings: 1300 881 545
Tickets: Adults $28, Concession $25
** Mothers Day – flat rate tickets $26 including one complimentary
drink.
For more information on Williamstown Musical Theatre Company Inc.
and
Little Shop of Horrors, visit
www.wmtc.org.au
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