We enter the theater and take our seats, the stage lights dim and the show begins. The Air Academy High School Theater program’s 2017 fall play begins; “Rehearsal for Murder”. On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November, the show was performed. When I saw the show on the 4th, it was amazing. Everyone did such a great job and the set looked amazing. I felt the loss of the great actors we lost from last year, but the new actors showed that they are ready to take on all the shows to come. 

“Rehearsal for Murder” is a play about a play about a play written in 1982 by D.D. Brooke. The play follows the main character Alex Dennison. Alex Dennison is a playwright who is coping with the death of his fiancee, Monica Welles, on the opening night of their play, the night before their wedding. A year had passed since her death, and he believes that it wasn’t suicide, but murder. He holds a read through of a new play he has written, each scene seemingly incriminating one of his friends who he “suspects” of being her murderer. There is one outcast, the man who was hired to impersonate a police officer. Unbeknownst to him, the read through and all the events that happen during it are scripted and planned. In the end, Frank, the fake police man, was the one who accidentally murdered her and threw her over the balcony to cover it up. This play is very, very clever and has a lot of twists and turns, more than I have even stated in the summary.

Our wonderful program did a great job of putting this play on the stage. Here is the cast list in order of appearance:

Alex                                                 Nicolas Rivard-Hunt

Ernie                                                Landon Dills

Sally                                                Miranda McCauley

Monica                                            Jenna Klewsaat

Loretta                                            Megan Carroll

Lloyd                                               Josh Carley

Bella                                               McCall Fletcher

Karen                                              Kalee Hollingsworth

David                                              Isaac Whitaker

Leo                                                 Micah Wilborn

Frank                                              Aiden Chesemore

Police Man                                     David Bryer

Santoro                                          Jacob Neasbitt

Lieutenant                                      William Patton

Police Woman                               Audrey Miller

There were many other people who were involved in the play behind the scenes. There were lots of people doing makeup, costumes and set building.

Senior Megan Davis was the stage manager backstage. “I loved being a part of this show,” she said, “I am so glad that my last play here was with all these amazing people.”

There were about 40 people in total involved with this play, and all of their hours and weeks of preparation and rehearsal (pun intended) really payed off! Unfortunately, the time to see the play is over, but there is a 1982 movie of this play that you may be able to find. Great job everybody who was part of this play, and stay tuned for our Spring musical!