This show Kills: behind the scenes of Beware the House on Haunted Hill By Isabelle Hetheringon

Creating a comedy of horror production, the DHS drama club puts on their yearly fall play; this year with more than just lines on a stage.

Top Left: Stagehand Aiden Fox asks advice to Auditorium Manager, JR Bornemann. Working as a stagehand, Fox deals with all props; whether that be moving furniture in-between scenes or making sure that all moving parts of the show are running smoothly. Top Right: Long time director Claudia Marsh leads the cast of Beware the House on Haunted Hill, for the first day of dress rehearsals on Oct. 14. Middle: Running through mic checks, lead Mae Reim is left speechless when given the chance to hear an echo applied to his voice. "Being a freshman, going into it, it got me a bunch of my friends, and I met so many people, made a bunch of great connections," Reim said. "It was such a good group of people. The freshman were wonderful, and I'm so proud of them, and I'm glad I go tot work with a lot of the seniors on their final show." Bottom: Junior Niko Knizacky recites a line for mic checks on the first day of dress rehearsals. "I really enjoy playing my character, Pritchard, because he's very overdramatic," Knizacky said.

“According to him, it is the only haunted house in the world,” Senior Ivy Hetherington said.

Quoting the character of Frederick Lorren, Hetherington gives insight into what Beware of the House on Haunted Hill is about.

“This rich Broadway producer, he invites this random group of people into this haunted house for a haunted party and offers a prize that they're able to survive the whole night,” Hetherington said. “Everyone's fending for themselves and trying to survive the games he has for them and the entire show, everyone's questioning whether or not the house is truly haunted or not.”

A cast of 10 people and a crew of 10 people has led to a tight knit group. The chemistry on stage is apparent, and the work from the crew is seamless.

“I'm very excited to be working with this cast,” Hetherington said. “There's only 10 kids in the actual cast, so it's a very small show, and there's a lot of variety between grades. I mean, we have two freshmen playing leads, and I'm very happy to be so close to them, and I'm very happy that this is my last show, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.”

Rehearsals are filled with more than just running lines. Jokes and laughter fill the stage as they do mic checks.

“This year I really like the people,” senior Reagan Gross said. “Everyone gets along, you know, I think it’s pretty great. We have a pretty small cast and a bit of a larger crew. And I think a lot of the time [the] cast and crew are somewhat divided, like they interact but not so much. And this year, we’re all pretty connected, so I like that.”

Rehearsals are filled with more than just running lines between cast members. This year's production includes many physical stunts, sound effects, and personalized makeup. Props include 3D printed knives and axes. Background music, thunder, and bubbling acid take up the stage as they flow through the speakers. And makeup is designed for each character based on popular trends from the 50’s.

It was great to get that experience early on, I really enjoyed being apart of a play and getting to hang out with all the seniors.

Freshman, Aidan Struve

A deeper look into Beware the House on Haunted Hill

Top: Having just stabbed billionaire Fredrick Loren, (played by junior Mae Reim) freshman Adelaide Sledz looks in disbelief to her actions. Oct. 13. marked the first day of dress rehearsal for the cast and crew of Beware the House on Haunted Hill. Right: Delivering one of his many monologues, junior Niko Knizacky puts on his best face and performs as Watson Pritchard. "I love getting to spook all of my friends by ranting about the ghosts in my mansion," Knizacky said.

October 14th: The first day of dress rehearsal was filled with laughter, mostly caused by Aiden Struve who plays Lance Schroder. Struve, a freshman, has shown immense talent by putting his all into his lead role. "The seniors were very nice and helpful in my acting career," Struve said. "Everyone really helped me get along. It is really going to help me with my other three years."

Top: Junior Mae Reim performs his opening monologue, as lead character Frederick Loren, during the first dress rehersal for Beware the House on Haunted Hill. "How big of an audience we have for like opening night, really. And when you're doing like a show like that, a comedy, you kind of forget that. a lot of the jokes become like common to you, so you don't really laugh with them anymore." Left: Senior Reagan Gross has been apart of the DHS drama club for all 4 years of high school. Her first year, the drama club produced Clue, which in Gross's words is very similar to this years production of Beware the House on Haunted Hill, both having elements of horror and comedy, and of course taking place in a mansion. "[Dr. Trent] is very different from me, and I think that's fun; because I usually find a way to relate to my characters, and I don't relate to him at all, which makes it more interesting for me to portray him," Gross said.

Freshman Tiegan Falvey runs mic check on the first day of dress rehearsal for the 2025 fall play of Beware the House on Haunted Hill. "I feel very honored [to be a lead as a freshman], I'm really excited for the next coming three years because I have more confidence getting in because my chances are probably going to go higher because I'll have more experience," Falvey said.

Credits:

Isabelle Hetherington