The cult classic musical Little Shop of Horrors is coming to life for a limited run at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture. The production, which opens June 6 and runs through June 16, is staged by the EPIC Players, a neurodiverse theater company which features actors with disabilities in leading roles.
In EPIC productions, performers with autism, Asperger's, Down syndrome and similar disorders take center stage, giving them the space to explore their passion for acting. For many, it's the first time they've had the chance to do so.
When it comes to theater, Nicole D'Angelo is used to performing in the orchestra pit. She's a professional musician — but now she's making her acting debut as Audrey in the EPIC Players' spring production of Little Shop of Horrors.
"I caught the acting bug, and this is my first real role outside of community theater," D'Angelo said.
While theater can be therapeutic, EPIC is also a professional endeavor. Actors are paid and mentored, and this show has an alter-abled stage manager, sound apprentice, and assistant director-in-training.
D’Angelo, who is autistic, said the company encourages members to make parts their own.
"A lot of people would think, 'Oh, there’s no way Audrey could ever be played autistic.' But I feel like she’s got this vulnerability and this sensitivity about her and this awkwardness that, you know, she just wants to be accepted all the time," she said. "And I think being autistic can bring that particular trait for her."
There are nearly 41 million Americans who live with a disability, including physical and neurological disorders. That also includes almost a million New Yorkers. Aubrie Thierren, founder and director of EPIC Players, said the company wants to debunk stereotypes about this community.
"Just like you would work with any actor with any sensitivities, you wouldn’t tell them, 'No, you can’t do the show,'" Thierren said. "You’d build the show around them, and that’s what we do."
For its spring show, the company picked Little Shop Of Horrors — the campy, 1982 off-Broadway rock musical about a love triangle and a human-eating alien plant.
Nick Moscato said as an autistic man with a lifelong love of musical theater, this show lets him step into the spotlight. He's playing his biggest role to date: Audrey Two, the human-eating plant that gives Little Shop its name.
"When I was community theater, I was with a bunch of neurotypical people and I was always cast in the ensemble," Moscato said. "But with this theater group, I was able to blossom more."