Interview with Student Actor

Brenham Staff Writer 

After the visit with the theatre department a few weeks ago, I was captivated by the characters in the little shop of horrors and the talented students who wonderfully portrayed them. 

One character that stood out to me was Audrey the beautiful, self conscious woman who works at the flower shop and who Seymour is secretly in love with. The triple threat Nikki Martine who plays Audrey says that she is like Audrey in some ways, “I think in some ways I am like Audrey. She is naïve but with good intentions.” Nikki very kindly sat down with me before rehearsal and gave me the scoop about the production and the theatre department. 

I wondered how such a large group of students handled the stressful situations of trying to prepare the show and working so closely with others, but Nikki assured me that there was “no drama in the drama department.” She laughed and told me “Everyone is great, they’re all a bunch of comics.” I was also interested to see how she felt about the inevitable kiss that Audrey and Seymour have after my personal favorite song in the production “Suddenly Seymour.” 

She very maturely told me that it was just a stage kiss and that “Everyone has to stage kiss at one point or another. My time just came sooner than I expected.” And with longing to pursue a career in acting and singing she understands that it is part of being in a production. 

I was also curious of how the auditions work. While I found Nikki to be the perfect Audrey I wondered if she herself thought she would be better suited for another character. “Mr. Nies gives us the rehearsal scripts and everyone reads for all the parts and he decides who he wants to play what.”

Nikki is a sophomore at Blinn and wishes transfer to Texas Tech University, The University of Texas, or Sam Houston to pursue her future.