Opening Friday, June 23 and running through Sunday, August 13, 2022

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PORTSMOUTH, NH (December 15, 2022): Prescott Park Arts Festival, 

a non-profit arts organization, will return to its idyllic Portsmouth waterfront setting this summer with LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as its signature musical theatre production. The show was announced as the Festival’s highly anticipated 2023 Summer Musical Production during its annual Reveal Event held at The View at Pepperrell Cove in Kittery Point. The Arts Festival will mount the newer Broadway version with updated compositions, premiering on the Wilcox Main Stage Friday, June 23rd and running each week, most Thursdays through Sundays until August 13th. Audition submissions will be accepted now through the end of January. 

A deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical, Little Shop Of Horrors has devoured the hearts of theatre-goers for over 30 years. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, and Aladdin) are the creative geniuses behind what has become one of the most popular shows in the world. This version of the wildly produced classic features the original libretto we all know and love paired with the 2003 Broadway orchestrations. 

The Festival is excited to feed the need for musical hilarity by bringing this delicious sci-fi smash to Prescott Park this summer. 

“We had so much fun with Footloose last summer, we knew we wanted to bring another energetic production to the Seacoast for the summer. The newer Broadway compositions in this version of Little Shop bring a really modern vibe to the show. For us, it made total sense to choose a doo-wop-driven musical to the park. It’s a playful throwback with fantastic music that offers a certain level of familiarity from the 1986 film. There is always such anticipation to return to our beautiful home of Prescott Park and our staff continues to work hard at putting together another dynamic summer for the community,” says Courtney Perkins, Executive Director of Prescott Park Arts Festival, “We are grateful to bring the Seacoast’s favorite summer tradition back in 2023, and we are especially excited to do so with this outrageous cult classic.” 

Next summer, the Festival’s full-scale production will fill the summer air with retro tunes such as the title song, “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Suddenly Seymour", plus the moving ballad “Somewhere That’s Green,” and the always entertaining, “Git It (Feed Me).” Prescott Park Arts Festival remains committed to bringing a diverse and dynamic cast of theater professionals singing and swinging all summer long on the Wilcox Main Stage. 

The Festival’s production of Little Shop of Horrors will be directed by Tom Alsip, Director of the Musical Theatre Program for the University of New Hampshire Theater Department. This will be Alsip’s second summer in the park and he will be joined by long-time Festival favorites, choreographer Mary Beth Marino, and Music Director Kathy Fink. The three teamed-up last year on the wildly popular production of Footloose. 

“It’s wonderful to be able to bring Tom back for his second season in the park. We were in such good hands last year with Tom directing Footloose and he has brought so much to the area through his work at UNH. We are lucky to have him at the helm once again for this iconic fan favorite,” said Perkins. 

Alsip spent a decade in New York City working as an actor, director and educator and earning his BFA from New York University, where he later worked as an Adjunct Professor. He earned his MFA in Directing from the University of Alabama before spending two years at Oklahoma State University where he taught acting, directing and musical theatre courses, while overseeing the creation and implementation of the university’s new musical theatre program.

“My first experience with Little Shop of Horrors was seeing a community theater production in my hometown of Mobile, Alabama where my dad played the role of Mr. Mushnick,” shared Director, Tom Alsip, “I have loved the show ever since. Based on the classic Roger Corman B-horror movie, the musical embraces the style of those horror flicks and marries it to the inherent camp of comedic musical theatre. The final product is the musical hit we know and love.  Little Shop of Horrors has a fun mix of styles that anyone can enjoy. But, remember, don’t feed the plants.”

Audition submissions will be accepted now through Saturday, February 4, 2023. For more information and the casting breakdown please visit the Arts Festival’s website. www.PrescottPark.org/about/auditions

 In addition to the Signature Musical, Prescott Park Arts Festival offers the River House Restaurant Concert Series, and the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Monday Night Movie Series. Tables in the B2W Software VIP Seating Area can be reserved for all of the Festival’s series, in addition to limited blanket reservations, in front of the Wilcox Main Stage. The Best Seat in the House, sponsored by Key Auto Group, is a special seating area at the front of the VIP section that is available for reservation as well. Reservations for Little Shop of Horrors will open in the Spring. 

2023 Season Passes are on sale now and available at 2022 prices through the end of the year. All Season Passholders gain early access to reservations for all of the Arts Festival’s series, including the musical.  

Audition submissions will be accepted now through Saturday, February 4, 2023.

For more information and casting breakdown please visit the Arts Festival’s website.

www.PrescottPark.org/about/auditions

Prescott Park Arts Festival FACT SHEET

Established in 1974, the festival stays true to its mission of accessibility to the arts by offering all of its events with no fixed admission. All performances of Little Shop of Horrors have an optional, suggested donation of $5.

Tables in the B2W Software VIP Seating Area can be reserved for Little Shop of Horrors performances, in addition to limited blanket reservations, in front of the Wilcox Main Stage. Special discount pricing is available for Festival season pass holders. Reservations will open in the Spring. 

All reservations can be made at: www.prescottpark.org.

About Prescott Park Arts Festival

For nearly 50 years, Prescott Park Arts Festival has served the Seacoast community with family-friendly entertainment, inspiring artistic offerings, providing a public place to gather and share unique experiences. In an idyllic natural setting along the Piscataqua River in beautiful downtown Portsmouth, the Festival presents more than 90 arts events to nearly 150,000 people each season including a film series, music festivals and concerts, food festivals, dance, children’s events and the signature summer musical. Accessibility is deeply rooted in the Festival’s values and we proudly have a suggested donation model to ensure that everyone has access to these diverse, family-focused performances.