How was opening night?I think it went really well. Our dress rehearsal was kind of off so we were a little worried, but it went really well (on opening night).

Dress rehearsal was off? What do you mean by off?A bunch of little things went wrong. You know how they say that in your first performance that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Well, during the dress rehearsal they were filming so it was the equivalent of a first performance and anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. So we got that out of the way. Our actual first performance was really good.

Tell me about your character in “Little Shop of Horrors.”My character is from New York, and she’s blonde. She’s a stereotypical blonde. She’s very ditsy, and her boyfriend is the dentist — Orin. He’s abusive.

Obviously, you’re not blonde, but are you from New York?No. When I was little I lived in New Jersey, and so I can do the accent.

What’s it like being up there on stage?Actually, it’s pretty natural for me because I’ve been doing theater since I was little. When I was little I was in “Brigadoon.” Let’s see. What else? “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” “Sound of Music.” “Annie.” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Oh, and “Children of Eden” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

Is there any kind of trick you do to memorize your lines or does it just come naturally?Yeah, kind of comes natural to me. I don’t know why, but I’m really good at memorizing songs and lines. I can get a soundtrack to a musical and memorize all the songs within two weeks. It hasn’t really been a problem for me.

Is this something you view as a hobby or something you want to pursue as a career?A hobby. A lot of people say I should go into musical theater, but I plan on going into mathematics.

Mathematics and theater? Those really aren’t two closely related fields.In a way, they’re kind of interrelated because a lot of people who are gifted in music are also gifted in mathematics. I’m mostly into musical theater because I’m good with music and singing.

Do you play instruments as well?I play piano, but I wouldn’t say that I am really good at it.

What’s your character’s name?Audrey.

And Audrey II is the?The plant.

Right. Now does someone play the plant or is it just a plant on stage?A guy plays the plant, and someone else operates the plant.

Does it come off pretty well on stage?Yeah, it really does. The person operating the plant has to move the mouth around while the plant is talking and singing. It’s really funny.

Interview conducted by Steve Mraz.

Nicole HatchAge: 18

Title: “Audrey” in “Little Shop of Horrors”

(Day job: Senior at Ramstein High School)

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