The student-built plant puppets used in the 2019 Shady Side Academy Senior School musical Little Shop of Horrors are on display in lobby of the O'Reilly Theater in the Cultural District during the Pittsburgh Public Theater's professional production of the same musical, which runs Jan. 23 through Feb. 23, 2020.

In Little Shop, a bloodthirsty plant named Audrey II grows from little bud to menacing blossom to deadly shrub to people-eating behemoth. Most school and professional productions rent the Audrey II puppets from prop companies, but last year a team of talented SSA students took on the challenge of building the puppets from scratch – and the results were stunning. The four puppets range in size from a small plant in a 6" pot that opens and closes its mouth to a fully-grown plant that is 4' tall, 4' wide and 7' long and consumes multiple people in the show.

The puppets were built during the 2018-2019 school year by 2019 graduates Lucie Greene and Lily Scheele, current senior Ava Caron and current junior Bridget Onest, under the direction of SSA Technical Director Austin Davidheiser. Current senior Sanjna Narayan served as the puppeteer for the three larger plants while current senior Max Minard voiced the puppets in last year's SSA musical.

"It was an amazing challenge and I was super-impressed with the results," said SSA Drama Director Dana Hardy-Bingham, "Little Shop was one of the best shows we've done here. It was a huge thing to take on, and I'm so proud of everyone."

The Pittsburgh Public Theater heard about the SSA puppets last year and, after seeing photos of the students' handiwork, offered to display them in the lobby during its 2020 production of Little Shop of Horrors. In addition to the lobby display, a page in the playbill spotlights the puppets and the SSA students who brought them to life.

SSA is now offering the Audrey II puppets for rent to other schools and theater companies performing Little Shop of Horrors. For more information, contact Austin Davidheiser at adavidheiser@shadysideacademy.org.