Murder mystery night is a yearly event that combines an evening meal with a satirical show performed by CHS students with a “whodunit” plot line, eventually ending with grand reveal of the “murderer’s” identity.
The setting of this year’s show is a late night television show called Late Night with Broox, Broox Jordan being the host. There are a wide variety of rebellious characters that serve as potential suspects, including his guests, crew, house band and sidekick.
Junior Cadie Nussbaum and senior Sam Levy will be highlighted as first time script writers in this year’s show. The writing process for this pair proved to be quite unusual. Nussbaum and Levy began writing on the night of Halloween after realizing that script submissions were due the next day. Nussbaum estimates that they finished the majority of the script in six hours. Because they started so last minute, the theater arts club board gave them an extension.
“Getting an extension was great, except for the fact that I was across the country touring colleges,” said Nussbaum. “Many late Facetime calls and jokes back and forth ended with a rough draft of this year’s show.”
Even though it took some time to finalize their script, the pair credits their similar humor for making the process smooth and enjoyable. Although Levy and Nussbaum argued about certain aspects of the script, they were able to compromise and produce a piece they were both proud to present.
Nussbaum and Levy were ecstatic after finding out their script had been chosen, and they could not wait to include more people in the creative process. Neither had any idea that over 40 students would audition for the show, but the audition process proved extremely validating for the writing duo.
“Casting was fun and I was beyond impressed with all of the talent we saw, but having to turn people away, especially as a fellow student and friend, was not the best feeling,” said Nussbaum.
The writers were also able to pick their creative team which consists of the director, producers, publicists, costume designers and much more. While the cast members are on stage taking on alternate personalities, the crew works behind the scenes to ensure that the student body is pleased with this hilarious, yet well-rehearsed show. The creative team formats the “WANTED” posters, plans a catered dinner and publicizes the show to the student body and Calabasas community.
Murder mystery night will be in the MPR April 12th and 13th. Come to the show find out “whodunit!”