The Kearny High School senior play this year is “Murder in the House of Horrors,” by Billy St. John, a murder/comedy mystery where the audience interacts with the actors to help solve the mystery. It will be performed at KHS on Dec. 6 and 7 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $6 for students and senior citizens and $8 for adults. All proceeds go to the Class of 2025.
In the play, the Hamilton Museum is sponsoring a lecture on monsters, murderers and madmen. Suddenly, the lights go out during the presentation, plunging the auditorium into darkness. When the lights come back on, the professor is dead and the priceless jewel he was holding has vanished.
The cast and audience are drawn into this mystery, both as witnesses and suspects. When Lt. Dan Morrow arrives, he narrows the suspects to seven. Was it the jealous wife? Or maybe the exotic Egyptian who cursed the expedition?
The lieutenant enlists the audience’s aid in solving the crime, allowing them to question and accuse the suspects. This unique mystery contains many laughs as well as shivers.
In the cast are (role/actor) Dr. Johann Vanderveer: Piero Gonzales; Elena Newman: Kendra Lopes; Lurenda Westbrook: Jocelyn Garcia; Elvira Gray: Vanessa Costa; Jane Trice: Gia Kaminski; Russ Palmer: Mauricio Gomez; Betty Lange: Jensen Bonilla; Professor Dirk Carlton/Professor Kirk Carlton: Gianluca Sanchez; Frances Carlton: Kaira Vazquez; Gahiji Amun: Mathias Ron Orquera; Isis Amun: Rebecca Santos Fontes; Tony: Arianny Gonzalez Alvarez; Lt. Dan Morrow: Erick De Lima; Officer Val Holloway: David Villota. Guard 1: Ryan Rodriguez; Guard 2: Eric Raul Escobar; Ensemble: Karla Bolivar, Jaylee Guanga,
Josephine Brizuela Valladares, Ruth Suero and Gabriella Novillo.
The faculty credits include: Director Milagros Gonzalez; Set Design Ian Costello; Lighting Danny Conde; Sound Engineer Dave Caravella; Business Manager Kathleen Astrella and Program Joe Domalewski.
Volunteering is Madelyne Pichardo (Stage Manager).
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.