THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Count Donel Solomon among the leads in “Little Shop of Horrors,” yet audiences will never see his face.

As the voice of Audrey II, the man-eating plant in the musical, he’ll be just offstage behind the curtain watching the action as he voices Audrey II.

Solomon, 25, is familiar to CTC patrons for his role as the Tin Man in “The Wiz.” After recently earning a degree in criminal justice from East Tennessee State University, he’s employed with Unum.

“‘Little Shop of Horrors’ was one of the first shows I ever saw, and it got me into doing musical theater,” Solomon credits. When he learned the CTC was auditioning actors for the show he went, “because I just wanted to be part of it. This was definitely a role I did not expect.”

So having never done a voiceover before, how did he come up with Audrey II’s sound?

With the help of bathroom acoustics.

“I sat in my bathroom at home and practiced (Audrey’s lines) over and over and over. I would listen to myself and think ‘I like that’ or ‘No, not that.’ Finally I heard the one that I said ‘That’s it.’”

Solomon said he has based Audrey’s voice more on the tone or theme of the plot, rather than changing his intonation as the sprout grows into a maneater. He says he drew inspiration from the raspy edge in voices of Fats Domino and CeeLo Green.

From where he sits offstage he is able to see all action onstage, including Annabel Hudgins and Makenna Jordan, who alternate as the puppeteers manipulating Audrey II. The two puppeteers pair staging they’ve memorized with the intonation of Solomon’s voice to create their characterization.

“Audrey II is so deliciously evil, that the hardest part of playing the plant has been having fun, but not breaking character. It’s me trying to grasp that I have to portray a plant that’s eating people and taking over the world. It’s fun to be that evil plant that’s pulling the strings.”