Miles Files: 'Little Shop' no horror for these kids Miles Files: 'Little Shop' no horror for these kids (February 18, 2004)

By Miles McMullin

St. Joseph's School, 7th grade

Picture this: You are standing on stage all alone with a quiet audience staring directly at you. The lights are in your eyes. You are forgetting all your lines and cues. But then, suddenly, it all comes back, and voila , you are the star! This is what acting is like. It may seem like torture for some, but for the kids in this article, it is a thrill they live for.

It is not everyone who can stand up on a stage and sing and dance. But Shuka Alaee, a seventh-grader at St. Joseph's, accepts the challenge without hesitation. "I really devote myself to finding the true identity of my character and transforming myself into that person," she says.

Shuka is now involved in a play at St. Joseph's School in Atherton called "Little Shop of Horrors," in which she is a Do-Wop girl.

"The best thing is the cast, with a lot of talented people," she says. "I have made some good friends."

Among others is the cast is seventh-grader Jack Duane, who says he loves acting. "You get to express yourself in many different ways that you can't do otherwise," he says. "You get to be someone you are not. You play different roles that are out of this world!"

Next we have comedian Jim Carrey in a St. Joseph's eighth-grader's body. His name is Daniel Bathgate and he plays the lead character, Seymour. Daniel is not afraid of any stage anywhere, anyhow!

"I like making people laugh and having a good time," he says. "I am also not the greatest at sports, so I took up the next best thing."

Of "Little Shop of Horrors," he says: "I love the really cool happy music, and the enormous plant puppets that are the main part in the show."

Now, this is Miles speaking and you should know that, in fact, the biggest plant is so colossal that it actually does something amazing in the play. You will have to come see it to learn what happens.

By the way, I am also a lead in the play, and my part is Mushnik. Mushnik is the boss of the shop and always wants money.

"Little Shop of Horrors" has a total of 60 children in the play. All of the grades -- kindergarten through eighth -- are represented. Come see the play on February 27-29 at St. Joseph's School in Atherton, and tell Shuka, Jack, Daniel and the other 56 kids that you read Miles Files and you are there to cheer them on!
INFORMATION

Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, February 27 and 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, February 29. For more information, call 322-9931.

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