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entertainment Panther Prowler • March 1, 2019
Disney princesses attend a high school reunion
Gianna Spiro Ad Manager
High school reunions are scary enough, but when someone is murdered, everyone fears for their lives. The NPHS theatre department hosts a Mystery Dinner as an annual fundraiser and show. On Feb. 8 and 9 at 6 p.m., the cafeteria filled with guests and the aroma of catered Italian food; then Disney princesses walked in. Cinderella greeted the audience members to the tenth reunion of Grimm High School, a school for fairytale characters. Very quickly, the audience and the three main princess, Ella (Cinderella), Rory (Aurora), and Snow (Snow White) discover they were all in a relationship with Prince Wilhelm, who is then almost immediately found to be murdered. The characters then attempt to uncover who is responsible for the murder, with the help of a detective and the high school home economics teacher (Ms. Heckson). Craig Hastings, senior, directed and organized everything backstage for the show. “This is my first full length show that I’ve directed, I directed a student one act my sophomore year, but that’s it. Mystery Dinner went pretty well, it was very nerve racking to watch the production because I was scared something was gonna go wrong but it didn’t so I’m very happy about that,” Hastings said. Celina Kott, senior, was quite chipper when playing the role of Snow White. “It’s really interesting to work in a dinner-theatre setting, where the stage is essentially all about the audience. You got to be aware of where you are, and who you can and can’t see,” Kott said
Ready… Action- Gus Gress, sophomore, Haley Ligsay, senior, Celina Kott, senior, and Justin Mcalister, sophomore, all stand side by side in the theatre’s annual production of Mystery Dinner. Directed by Craig hastings, the production went well, and everyone had fun performing. “It went great, I had a ton of fun doing it and I think the audience really enjoyed it as well. With it being very interactive we ended up having lot of participation and laughs throughout the show,” Thomas Kitchell, senior, said. Sarah Bean/With Permission
Months in the making, this production took a lot of preparation. “There’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen backstage to even make the show possible and the typical audience doesn’t even know about any of it. As a director I had to plan out each scene and where to place the actors which kept changing of course. I also had to communicate with tech for sound cues,
props, then costume inspiration and collaboration,” Hastings said. Thomas Kitchell, senior, enjoyed the preparation experience, especially as playing Jack. “Craig was an amazing director, a lot of rehearsals consisted of improv games at his house because the whole interrogation scene is improv. It was super fun playing the detective because I got to lead the interrogation, and I was able to answer all of the audiences questions not matter how ridiculous they were,” Kitchell said. Many of the actors also had fun with the interrogation scene. Catie Parker, senior, enjoyed the crazy questions.“ The best part of rehearsals was when we did mock questionings to try to ask each other the most absurd questions possible as a way to practice for anything the audience might give us. It was truly an honor to practice with such talented people, it gave me the ability to improve my own skills,” Parker said Overall Mystery Dinner was a success with everyone enjoying the show. “If I were to describe my mystery dinner theatre experience in four words it would be “constantly holding in laughter,” Kott said. Like many of the other actors, Parker liked performing above everything else. “The show went extremely well, we had a full house both nights and lots of audience interaction, which made the show more interesting for both the actors and the audience. Practicing for the show was a lot of fun, but nothing can top the feeling of performing for an audience. I love getting to show what we have worked for and embrace the character I am portraying” Parker said.
Aditya Vunnum Sports Editor Abra cadabra! ‘Oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ scatter the audience as cards flutter across the stage and bunnies and bowling balls appear out of thin air as three magicians from the Magic Castle entertained students and family in the PAC. Newbury Park’s band program held the magic show on Feb. 23, inviting families and friends for a night of surprise. Band got half of the profit from the show; the cost was $10 at the door for performances from three different talented magicians from the Magic Castle of Los Angeles. The magicians entertained the audience with jokes and frequently called up volunteers, including Dennis Crystal, band director, to take part in their performance. “The need to raise money for the arts programs and the band programs is constant. So, we need -- as students, as band parents, as teachers that run the band program here -- to work together to fund our programs largely on our own,” Crystal said. “We do get money from the school and the school district and that’s very helpful, it’s just not enough to fund all the things that we do.” As a result of minimal funding, the band program is constantly searching for new ways to support themselves: “We’re always looking for things to do to raise money for the band
program, but also add value to the community. Putting on a magic show is something that almost anybody would want to go to. It was a lot of fun, the magic was pretty fantastic and it seemed that would be a better option than trying to sell candy bars or some of the other typical stuff,” Crystal said. In past years, the band has had fundraisers ranging from golf tournaments to mattress sales, and they decided to take on a different approach in the hopes to attract more people. Each band member had to sell five tickets over the course of three weeks so that they could get the word out. Dasha Manzhos, senior, felt that although the turnout was decent, other past fundraisers worked better. “I don’t think this fundraiser worked better than previous years, so I don’t think we’re going to do it again. It was about 160 people or so. We could’ve done better but it wasn’t a tragic fail,” Manzhos said. Grace Renouf-Bilanski, junior and three year band member, enjoyed the performance and thought it was an excellent first magic show fundraiser. “I thought the performance went great,” Renouf-Bilanski said. “It was really funny and I loved how the band director Mr. Crystal participated.”
Electrifying- Three magicians from the Magic Castle in Los Angeles came to the PAC to throw a fundraiser for the band program. The program has tried several different methods to raise fundraisers over the past few years and decided to go a different route this year. It was a lot of fun, the magic was pretty fantastic and it seemed that would be a better option than trying to sell candy bars or some of the other typical stuff,” Crystal said. The show resulted in a turnout of 160 people by the end of the night. Aditya Vunnum/Prowler
