This week, justArts spoke with Tres Fimmano ’18, who directed Tympanium Euphorium’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” that went up in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater this past weekend.  

justArts: How did you decide to direct “Little Shop of Horrors”?

Tres Fimmano: I always wanted to direct something at some point. ‘Little Shop’ is one of my favorite shows. It was actually a weird process because I actually applied to direct “Chicago,” and when the club didn’t get the rights, they called together the E-board and had us pick a show that we could get the rights for that we all would want to work on.  When I found out ‘Little Shop’ was an option, I was like, ‘I really want to do that one!’

JA: What was the most challenging thing about directing?

TF: Well, I had never done it before. Having creative confidence was definitely something for me. I think outwardly communicating my ideas is just something in general that I know I could work on, so that was a bit of a struggle for me.

JA: What was your favorite part of directing?

TF: That’s really hard to say. In the end, just seeing the final product and just seeing my ideas come to life and actually just look so much better than I ever could have imagined them being on stage is just rewarding.

JA: Did you consciously try and put a spin on the show?

TF: Nothing too big. Something I did try to emphasize with the show that I don’t think is done so much is how relationships can ground people. I think usually with the show, people try to show the way something like the deal with the devil can affect you. I tried to show that the characters had grounding by the people around them and how that helped them stay themselves as much as they could, despite how bad things got. 

JA: What’s your favorite part of the story?

TF: Personally, I think my favorite part is when Seymour feeds Audrey to the plant because I think that everything up to that point wasn’t predictable but maybe expected — [it] doesn’t completely throw off the audience. Right when that happens, that’s when the audience realizes, ‘Wow, nothing that’s going to happen in this show is something we ever would have guessed.’

JA: Is there one thing you hope the audience took away from the show? 

TF: I kind of wrote about this in my director’s note. If I could sum it up that there’s something I want them to take away, it’s that there is nothing that they could take away. There aren’t really any guidelines on how to live your life because every situation is so unique and every decision you make, good and bad decisions, aren’t going to be clear at any point, and you just have to think about consequences and what you’re willing to live with. 

                                                —Jaime Gropper