Fifteen-year-old Laura Braley of Concord played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Majestic Theater in Manchester last weekend.
How long have you been acting? I’ve been acting since I was in first grade, when I first performed in the Junior Student Actor’s Program at Beaver Meadow Elementary School.
What made you get into acting? My mom has been active in theater since she was a child, and there was also a big emphasis in the arts and theater at Beaver Meadow. Once I started with Clint Klose there, I really enjoyed it and have never stopped! I’ve performed with The Majestic Theatre, The Concord Players, RB Productions, Beaver Meadow, Rundlett Middle School, and Concord High School, most recently in RENT and Phantom of the Opera at CHS.
What do you enjoy acting in more – musicals or plays? Musicals. I love to sing and take voice lessons with Ellen Nordstrom at Concord Community Music School.
What’s your favorite musical/play you’ve ever performed in? Other than Little Shop of Horrors, my favorite musical to perform in has been Seussical. In fact, I’ve performed in it four times!! My favorite Seussical role was Gertrude, but I have also performed as a Bird Girl, the Cat in the Hat, and as an ensemble member.
If you could play one role from any play or movie, what would it be? Audrey is one of my dream roles, but I would also love to play Glinda in Wicked or Cosette in Les Miserables.
You play Audrey in Little Shop Of Horrors. Has acting in this musical giving you a newfound respect for plants? Considering that Audrey II eats me, plants do sometimes give me creepy dreams these days!
Has it changed how you feel about dentists? No, I think that the writers took advantage of people’s fear of dentists in writing (sadistic dentist Oren)’s character that way, but he’s just a character with a serious personality disorder.
What advice would you give someone who found themself in the clutches of a man-eating plant? DON’T FEED THE PLANT!!
