Catch the thrilling laughs yourself this weekend
PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles High School (PRHS) drama department is currently in the middle of their run of”Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder.” The play is a hilarious romp in which three start-up party planners host the murder mystery party of a lifetime while trying to get investors, and that’s just one layer to the caper! Paso Robles Press got to be in the audience on preview night, Thursday, Dec. 5, and then interviewed the drama students the next morning on what it was like to perform a world premiere of a play written for them by local playwright and PRHS substitute teacher Ben Abbott. The show was directed and created in collaboration with their teacher, Marcy Keyser-Goodnow.
“I think what was really cool about them collaborating was that, because Mr. Abbott specifically is so connected with us and our theatre company, we got a lot of time with him,” said student Libby Higgins, who played Celeste of Abbott.“He came in and asked us questions. He asked what we liked. He asked if there was anything that was confusing, and for the first time, we were able to have a small part in that creative process.”
“Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder” was a great time to witness as an audience member, and since the show is brand new, there isn’t much more that can be said of the plot without giving things away. However, it can be stated that Abbott created a show for the drama department that had all 21 students on stage at the same time on multiple occasions and that the actors kept the tight pacing and laughs coming the entire show.
“It is very exciting,” added Ayda Sloan, who plays Vivian. “Especially last night, it felt like the same show but also very different because there was an audience, and there was so much more adrenaline and enthusiasm when you’re on stage. It makes you excited to see what other nights are like because it could be different every night.”
The tightly layered show was brought to life by wildly talented performances and was a blast to watch. It was also fun to be there for the very first performance the students had in front of a live audience full of parents and younger students from the district.
“A murder mystery comedy is very difficult to do because we’ve heard these jokes over and over again, and we’veheard these twists over and over again, but having an audience in front of us finally reminds us how funny and unexpected our show can actually be,” added Elijah Jordan, who plays Pax.
Many of the students also commented that it’s super interesting to be the first ones to debut a play because there are no expectations, and they get to originate the roles and how they interpret them with no expectations from the audience.
“During the audition process, because no one’s ever done this show before, there was a lot of creative liberty with how you perceive a character or how you’re going to present her, or them,” Skylar Collins, who plays Hazel, said of her role.
The students in the drama technical department also had the joy of being able to create the set for the show, which, even though it is contemporary, is primarily set in a 1920s mansion as the murder mystery party’s theme is also the 1920s. And boy, did they hit the ball out of the park with the setting on stage.
“I think my favorite thing to hear is when I hear comments about the technical aspect of the show,” said the actor who plays Reid, Makhi Jones. “Even as an actor, I have very close ties with the technical aspects of the show, and I think when I hear, ‘Oh, the costumes are so great.’ It makes me go ‘Yes.’ The blood packet, oh my gosh, yes, please. All those things took so long and to have everyone be encompassed in like, ‘Hey, you actually did a really good job,’ is just reallygreat.”
“My favorite part was probably getting to have the creative aspect of designing the set without any previous image,” added Stage Manager Sam Laucella. “There was no research for previous shows of it being done, so it was all coming from our set design team, the director, and me. It was an image that we created ourselves, and there was nothing to compare it to.”
The actors also expressed extreme gratitude to Abbott for creating “Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder” for them, and it was obvious that they all knew just how special this experience was every step of the way.
“Mr. Abbott is so great,” said Divyana Emmons, who played Ashley. “I can speak for our whole class to say that we were so grateful to have this opportunity because we had been talking about it for most of last year and stuff, and I think that we are all just so grateful that he was able to take our input and create this show for all of us and we just had so much fun doing it.”
When asked why the public should come to see “Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder,” the actors all agreed that the show is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and unique to any other murder mystery out there, and I would have to agree.
You can catch this delightful show for yourself on Dec. 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. or Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at paso-high-theatre-co.ticketleap.com/murder-mystery-mystery-murder.
To read Paso Robles Press’ interview with Abbott and Keyser-Goodnow on creating the show, go to pasoroblespress.com/lifestyle/entertainment/local-playwright-pens-play-for-paso-robles-high-school.
Featured Image: The complete cast of “Murder Mystery, Mystery Murder” poses on stage on preview night, Dec. 5, at the Paso Robles High theater. Photo by Christianna Marks
