On Monday, May 3, the cast and crew of Fossil Ridge High School’s recent production, Little Shop of Horrors, were faced with a last-minute cast change and new cases of COVID-19. Despite their most recent obstacles when navigating the uncharted territory of creating a musical in the midst of a pandemic, the show is slated to continue on as planned.

In previous weeks, the production team was challenged with mass quarantines within the cast due to a positive COVID-19 case. After deciding to proceed with an adjusted online format for many, they had hoped to be in the clear throughout the rest of production.

Less than one week out from the musical’s scheduled dates though, the team was once again met with adversity despite their best efforts. A cast member chose to leave the production, thus causing complications surrounding how, and with whom, to proceed. As the production team now rushes to fill the now-empty roles with members of the opposite cast, it also begs the question of who will take those roles. Despite the seemingly bleak casting situation though, the cast and crew is still willing and ready to continue their hard work and final preparations.

Beyond just a cast change, the cast was faced with a last-minute COVID-19 case.  Bradley Petrie is slated to take over this role, and is already adapting to his new position in the musical.

Despite these setbacks and urgent alterations, Little Shop of Horrors will continue almost exactly as planned. The main shows will still take place on Friday, May 7, and Saturday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m., with tickets still for sale at this website.

There will be one additional performance of the show on Monday, May 10, so that the currently quarantined member will be able to perform. The show will serve as the typical teacher show, in which teachers can come and view the musical for free. Fossil students will also be invited to the show for a reduced price of $10, but only Fossil teachers, students, and administration will be allowed into the show.

Elissa Biehl, a junior playing a DooWop in the show, explains that, despite their setbacks throughout preparations, the cast has persevered and is more excited than ever for the show. Biehl remarks, “The whole cast has poured everything into this show, and it’s turned out amazing. We’ve faced some setbacks, but we adjusted and pulled through, and we just feel extremely lucky and excited to do the show.”

Correction: This article was edited to correct vocabulary surrounding the use of a double cast instead of understudies.