Thirty-five Burlingame High School students sang for a shot at the fall musical on Tuesday, Sept. 1, each performing a one-minute song with a piano accompanist in the school's music room.

The production is "Little Shop of Horrors," and fewer than half will make the cut. Drama teacher Michelle Shannon said no more than 16 of the 35 will be cast.

Students chosen from the first round will return for callbacks on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Shannon and music director Rick Reynolds plan to finalize the cast list by Saturday, Sept. 12.

Shannon said she is looking for authenticity above all. "Authentic, showing me who they are. I don't want anybody putting on anything. I just want to see who they are," she said, according to the Burlingame B.

The auditions drew students across grade levels. Freshman Sana Parikh, who said she had practiced her audition song for a couple of weeks, tried out for the role of sea urchin. She said she went in feeling confident and believed she could pull it off well.

Junior Israel Pubien auditioned for the role of Audrey II, the show's carnivorous plant. Pubien called "Little Shop of Horrors" one of his favorite shows and said he values its diversity in musical theater.

The show tells the story of a desperate plant store worker who discovers a mysterious plant offering him a way out, but at a dangerous cost. Shannon said the musical asks whether someone who is lost should accept a vicious opportunity just because it seems easy.

The auditions come days after the BHS drama program staged its first-ever reading of "Inherit the Wind" on Friday, Aug. 28. That production marked the start of the program's first three-show season. In an Aug. 26 interview with the Burlingame B, Shannon described her philosophy for the expanded program: "This is about the process. This is not about the product."

Shannon acknowledged the hardest part is still ahead. Cutting students from the cast, she said, is the worst part of her job.

Performance dates for "Little Shop of Horrors" have not been announced.