Loving all things that have to do with theater productions, Coral Springs Charter had a Murder Mystery night held on April 16th. Starting roughly at 6 PM and keeping the audience until 8 PM, the event transformed the school's cafeteria into a night for suspense and drama. Theater 4 students took this project very seriously into delivering a series of cool and interesting acts that unraveled secrets, suspects, and startling revelations.
The Murder Mystery night has been going on for 15 years. This is a tradition at Coral Springs Charter since it lets for a friendly competition to be held that helps students go above and beyond their comfort zone. Students are given this project around 2 weeks before spring break so they have time to plan a theme for their murder mystery night, and the best planned out theme will be chosen. The theme that won was from senior Mackenzie Cook and she chose for it to involve a murder in the circus.
The play wrapped around a circus theme where someone who worked there got murdered. Detective Hardy and her two investigators went around investigating and interviewing all the workers at the circus. In between the acts around 7PM they served food, varying from salads and pastas. Finally for dessert they had cupcakes. The last part of the play was the audience asking any questions to the suspects so they could make their final guess. If they guessed the murderer right, they got a prize, which made the night end in an amazing way. The audience was very interactive with the students and really helped bring the energy to the scene.
Students in the theater class had a lot to say about this event, in particular, senior Brooklyn Luongo. Her character was a detective named Hardy. She couldn't relate to this role since she is only a student, and also would not like to be a detective, this was more of a fun role instead. She practiced every period when they got the chance since the end of spring break, 5 rehearsals in total. Her family, boyfriend and friends came out to support her on this special night as well. Brooklyn says, “I would do this again because I had so much fun, my favorite part of the night was going around to each table asking the audience if they had any questions for the suspects.” Since she is a senior, she will not be able to take part in this project in the following years to come, but the lead role that she played will always be remembered.
Drama teacher Alaina Butler has been teaching highschool drama for 19 years. Ms. Butler made this project to help students be creative but to also help fundraise high school senior thespians. She will continue doing this every year with her students to encourage those who are usually in the shadows to come out and express themselves in a way that can help everyone. Ms. Butler said, “The outcome was pretty good but it would always be better to have more people join us and help these kids put on an amazing show.” She helped raise a lot of money that will go into her drama class that will greatly improve this elective.
In conclusion, Coral Springs Charter's annual Murder Mystery night continues to be a success, providing a thrilling experience for both students and the audience . This year's circus themed production, brought to life by the dedication of Theater 4 students. Under the guidance of drama teacher Alaina Butler, helped her students to shine, while raising funds for the school's drama program. The hard work of these young thespians for this 15-year-old school tradition will not be forgotten.
