The drama club hosted their second murder mystery party on Friday December 5th, 2025 here at EHHS. Where guests are invited to tune in and dine at the same time. Each guest is given a sheet of paper to reference each of the cast’s roles and a different amount of money per table. The audience is encouraged to interact with the actors and even bribe them for more information on who the perpetrator is. In a night of mystery, gossip, and drama, the EHHS team created a night to remember. This year’s theme was Totally Rad 80s Prom Gone Bad produced by Ms. Kari Collins.
Ms. Collins is an English teacher at EHHS as well as the drama club advisor since the 2019-2020 school year. Managing her teacher life as a drama advisor can become challenging as it comes with great responsibility, but very well rewarding. One of the things she does to maintain a stable routine is give herself some time after school to work on grading before she goes into rehearsals. Working in advance also helps sort out her thoughts and what needs to get done first. The hard work she puts into drama club made for a memorable murder mystery dinner party.
Having people she can rely on to help her has done a lot. Callie Fusco and Robyn Genzano are her two assistant producers that have worked alongside her in the past with stage setup, costume design, and rehearsals. The culinary school department helped with catering the event with their delicious pasta and meatballs. A cake was also provided by Petonito’s Pastry and Cupcake Shoppe.
One of the actors from the cast, Adrianna Pappacoda, a current senior said, “I signed up for the murder mystery on my own, and it was the best decision I made. I mainly enjoyed being sassy [while] playing Debbie, as well as watching everyone be a liar to stir up drama throughout the night.” Many of the actors that night were encouraged to improvise on the spot as there was no script but objectives to complete to ensure the play was going along. The cast included 15 people,
Cast List
Alan Algebra- JP Wolfley Dolly Dancer – Charlize Santiago
Bobby Backer- Sophia Mercado Dr. Talk – Sophia Mercado
Cindy Sensational- Ava Rosarbo Gabby Backer – Kalleigh-Rose DePalma
Clerical Katie- Gianna Musco Kevin Catcher- Christopher Harvey
Coach Walters- Mak Yankee Larry Lefty- Estella Gargano
Debbie Taunte- Adrianna Pappacoda Peter Prez- Nicholas Cinquino
Principal Simpson– Kayla Federico Sally Spirit- Jaidyn Torres
Teach Tanner- Austin Merkowitz
Many people came that night to watch them perform and act along. Mrs. Collins said, “A lot of the teachers said it was fun. It’s also a cool project for us because it’s collaborative with both the audience and actors.” Students who are interested in participating in a play can look forward to acting in next year’s murder mystery party. Or act in the drama club’s upcoming musical, Bye Bye Birdie. Tickets are now available for the musical, so those looking forward to an amazing show make sure to get your ticket to go in the spring.
