Hometown performer returns for Clear Space's 'Little Shop of Horrors'

Part of Clear Space Theatre Company’s mission has been to nurture the talents of local performers, many of whom have comprised the majority of the casts each season, supplemented with a handful of Equity actors who have appeared as guest artists. Clear Space welcomes back local Sydney Dodd as a guest artist to take on a leading role in the production of “Little Shop of Horrors” in May.

Dodd, who first appeared in the 2006 production of “Hello, Dolly!” returns to the Clear Space stage after nearly a two-year absence, having last appeared as Winnie Tate in 2010’s “Annie Get Your Gun.” For “Little Shop of Horrors,” she takes on the role of Audrey, the affable love interest of down-on-his-luck floral assistant Seymour.

“I contacted Clear Space the minute I heard ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ was on the calendar,” says Dodd. “Audrey has been a dream role of mine since I was a teenager. The opportunity to play this role at a theater I’m familiar with and opposite some of my dearest friends was one I couldn’t pass up!”

Dodd’s involvement with “Hello, Dolly!” occurred during the summer after her freshman year of college. Each subsequent summer, she returned to Clear Space to work as a performer and counselor and instructor for the Musical Theatre Summer Intensive.

“Clear Space has always welcomed me back with open arms,” Dodd says. “Early on, they taught me so much about the differences between professional theater and everything else I had known up to that point. They really helped to solidify that this is what I wanted to do with my life.”

Her tenure at Clear Space this spring is somewhat of a long-term pit stop for Dodd, who spent the last year and a half in Jacksonville, Fla. After “Little Shop of Horrors” closes, she will move on to Auburn, N.Y., with her fiancé, with a much easier commute to NYC, as she continues to pursue her passion of perfoming.

Three of her fellow cast members in "Little Shop of Horrors"  - David Button, Dick Pack, and Dana Peragallo - have appeared alongside Dodd in several productions in the past.

“I consider the people at Clear Space my family - my home away from home - and I always will,” says Dodd. “Returning to rehearsal for this show has been more like a party than a job. How many people are fortunate enough to say that?”

Clear Space Theatre Company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” runs Friday, May 11, through Sunday, May 27 at the Clear Space Theatre, with performances Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., and a special matinee at 11 a.m., Thursday, May 17. Tickets, priced $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and $15 for students/children, are available online at www.ClearSpaceTheatre.org, by phone at 302-227-2270 or in person at the box office, 20 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach.