Christ the King students stage musical this weekend
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
The Christ the King School Players Drama Club will present “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in the gym at the school on North 13th Ave.
A performance for senior citizens will be held Wednesday, April 10, at 7 p.m. Students from grades pre-kindergarten to 8 are in the cast. The performance is free but donations will be accepted.
”The Mystery of Edwin Drood” was Charles Dickens’ final novel. He never finished it by the time he died, and his ending remains unknown. The identity of the murderer is up for debate.
Therefore, the twist in the play is that the audience gets to vote on whom they think is the murderer and there are choices.
”The play comes to a halt because Charles Dickens died while he was writing the play, so no one knows who killed Edwin Drood. The audience gets to vote who the detective is and who the murderer is and at the end who the two love interests are,” said director Maria Stadtmueller.
Each performance could have a different ending, depending on the outcome of the audience votes.
”We chose a whodunit, which we never have done before, with a lot of audience interaction. We had nine eight graders come out for the play so we had to have a lot of roles. We have some new faces who have quite a bit of talent,” said Ms. Stadtmueller.
The story focuses on Drood’s drug-addicted uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who is in love with his pupil, Rosa Bud, who alas is Drood’s fiancée. She also caught the eye of the another man, Neville Landless, who comes from Ceylon with his twin sister, Helena. Landless and Drood dislike one another from the start, and Drood disappears under mysterious circumstances.
Some of the 24 songs in the musical include “There You Are,” “Moonfall” and “Off to the Races.”
Ms. Stadtmueller and assistant director Barbara Mullins have been working with the students for a few months.
The cast includes Danny Shubiak as the Chairman, and Anna Mazzola as Edwin Drood. Paul John Gacek is John Jasper; Rosie Burns is Rosa Bud, and Anthony Russo and Andrew Russo are clients of Puffer. Katie Shubiak is Wendy/Denezin; Ananna Scarpulah is a maid and a citizen and Alexandra Nowak plays Bazzard/waitress.
Also the Deputy/Shade of Drood is played by Connor Budd; Horace/Shade of Jasper is David Navia; Helena Landless is played by Katie Collins; Neville Landless is Anthony Lobella; is by is Samantha Snell. CTK Drama Club alumni will be back for cameos.
Scenery was done by art teacher Christine Minsavage, the set design is by Ed Hayden and the music director is Kevin LeBouef.