For the first time in the two years since COVID started, The Morgan School will host an in-person musical. The Little Shop of Horrors will run from Thursday to Sunday, March 31 to April 3.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, Director John Lampe provides this summary of the 1950s sci-fi musical parody: “Meek flower shop assistant Seymour pines for co-worker Audrey. During a total eclipse, he discovers an unusual plant he names Audrey II, which feeds only on human flesh and blood. The growing plant attracts a great deal of business for the previously struggling store. After Seymour feeds Audrey’s boyfriend, Orin, to the plant after Orin’s accidental death, he must come up with more bodies for the increasingly bloodthirsty plant.”

The shows will all take place at The Morgan School, 71 Killingworth Turnpike, Clinton, with the Thursday to Saturday performances held at 7 p.m. and the Sunday performance at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be bought for $18 by calling Lampe at 860-663-0470.

“We will have a will call and tickets at the door, but it’s always best to order the tickets in advance,” said Lampe.

Lampe said there were several reasons for why he wanted to choose this story for this year’s production.

“One is that it’s a personal favorite of mine. Also, the music is very appealing and upbeat. We’re just coming out of a pandemic, I wanted something that would be fun,” said Lampe.

Lampe said that despite the name, the show is actually quite funny and features no truly frightening scenes and only one or two that could even be considered scary.

“It’s a very fun play I think a wide audience will enjoy,” said Lampe.

The fact that the show is even going on is a welcome return to normal. In 2020, the students were one week away from curtains up when the world changed and students were moved to remote learning for the rest of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year the students did a movie instead of a play.

“I really hope people come back out to support the kids,” Lampe said of the 2022 show.

Lampe said the students began rehearsing for the play back in January and that the show actually features two casts with a total of about 25 kids in the play. Lampe said in years previous the plays easily had at least double that amount, but with declining enrollment even before the pandemic, the casts had been shrinking over the last few years.

Despite the smaller cast, Lampe said that audiences would enjoy the play and he hopes that the community will recognize the hard work that went into preparing for the show.

“The kids really missed a live audience. I would love a big crowd there to reward them and welcome them back,” said Lampe.