From giant plants to dancing hobos, this year’s musical was the school’s biggest production ever, a task  that was four months in the making with 65 cast and crew members.

The biggest show stopper of the play was the monstrous Audrey II puppet at the end of the show. This was one of three plants that took two weeks to create for all of the scenes where the plant grows bigger. Junior Luis Bonilla gave the plant its movement, while sophomore Shae Stanford brought this malicious character to life through a microphone.

“I found it rather fun, because the characterization was through my voice,” Stanford said.”It was also kind of weird, because I would make all of the facial expressions since I was used to being on stage. What I found fun about the plant is that he had no rules. I’m normally a quite person, so it was fun to vent.”

The plant was only part of the giant set the technical crew built. It was so big the crew had to wear hobo clothes so they wouldn’t be out of place when the audience saw them – the curtains wouldn’t be able to hide them like usual. There were also moving brick walls that were completely covered with graffiti and a completely recreated  flower shop, from the cash register to the flower stations in the corner.

“Being a part of the technical crew, we had many challenges since this was the biggest set yet,” junior Mason Nichols said. “Audrey II forced us to have to adjust the whole visual aspect of the play. It was a nice change. It was different than the rest of the plays, because the tech part made the show. We love it, because that made the show.”

With 16 songs, 94 pages of lines and hours of choreography, each cast and crew member had a fair share of things to do. Quick scene and costume changes required efficiency, like with the 22-second change by senior Arden Beckham, when she had to go from a pink dress with a sweater to a night gown and robe. She also had to end up on a platform that leads to the stairs before the spotlight hit her. This was all done with the help of junior Paige Smith and junior Kristen Hassett.

“It was nerve-racking, because every time was different,” Smith said. “Anything could have gone wrong like a zipper breaking. I was relieved and started to dance when it was done.”

Beckham, who played the lead role of Audrey, was the lead in a musical for the first time.

“It was so much fun to do,” Beckham said. “It was pretty stressful because there was a lot that goes into it and it was my first time. But it ended up being amazing and the cast really got close by the end of it.”

The play ran for three nights, Jan. 19-21.

“I dreamed about doing this show ever since this Rouse opened,” director Stephanie Smith said. “Then this year we had the perfect cast. It was a dream come true for me.”