Set Design Mentoring Program Gives Michigan Students a Chance to Bring Little Shop of Horrors to Life

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- In Michigan, design students search to experience real world opportunities to explore their craft. A mentoring program created by co-set designers Leslie Ann Pilling of Presence II Productions in Bloomfield Hills and Chris Steinmayer gave four metro Detroit college students hands-on experience creating the set for Little Shop of Horrors, which opens Friday, March 12 at St. Dunstan's Theatre in Bloomfield Hills.

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"It was a great learning experience demonstrating how a set comes together from beginning to end," said Nina Hudson, of Detroit, a fashion design student at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Troy. "It was a great way to incorporate skills and tactics learned at school and apply it to an actual set."

Hudson, along with Amanda Fisher, Ashley Ziemianski and Jordan Davis, were guided in creating the set, from the fabrication of set props to painting and experimenting with color theory, which resulted in an original and innovative set at St. Dunstan's.

"It's fulfilling to have the opportunity to share my skills with design students," says Pilling, who handles all forms of set production from set design and staging to furniture acquisition and the creation of custom props. "They're gaining real experience they can utilize in Michigan, especially with the film industry's growth."

Little Shop of Horrors runs March 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27 and 28 at St. Dunstan's Theatre, located at 400 Lone Pine Road in Bloomfield Hills. Reserve tickets now by calling St. Dunstan's at 248-737-3587 or visiting www.stdunstanstheatre.com.

SOURCE Presence II Productions