'Curtains' at Trumbull High School

“There’s a special kind of people known as ‘show people!’” These are the words spoken by Lt. Detective Frank Cioffi to motivate the dejected cast of “Robb’n Hood,” a troubled new musical trying to make it to Broadway in the opening moments of this year’s THS musical, “Curtains.” A musical-comedy whodunit, “Curtains” weaves a story of romance, mystery, and over the top comedy as Lt. Cioffi simultaneously tries to solve a crime and rewrite a musical into a smash hit.

This year, theatre students at THS are no less busy than Lt. Cioffi himself. Recently faced with a series of snow days and other cancellations, the cast and crew have had to pull together to adjust and be ready for opening night on March 16. “Every rehearsal that was cancelled put us 2 ½ hours behind schedule. The leads ended up doing a lot of rehearsing on our own at each others’ houses!” exclaimed senior Julie Spillane. Another challenge this year has been creating buzz for a show that is not widely known. “Curtains” opened on Broadway in 2007 and ran for 511 performances. Written by Kander and Ebb, the same team that wrote the popular “Chicago” and “Cabaret,” this show is a hilarious backstage musical that blends musical comedy with murder mystery. “When the show was announced in the summer, I had to look it up because I’d never heard of it before. But as soon as I listened to the cast recording, I knew people would love it. It’s perfect for THS,” remarked Carlos Perez, another senior cast member. Producer Shannon Bolan observed, “It has a classic ‘show-within-a-show’ format so there are several big splashy production numbers that will dazzle the audience. The best way I’ve found to explain it to people is that it’s like “42nd Street” meets the board game Clue.” She adds: “If you’ve enjoyed our past productions of “Crazy for You” or “How to Succeed…” you’ll love “Curtains!”

While the show is certain to be a toe-tapping good time for the audience, the mission of the THS theatre program is serious work. Technical director Matt Bracksieck said, “The philosophy behind our program is to put as many tasks and responsibilities into the hands of students as possible. We have students involved in every aspect of the production.” Behind the scenes, senior stage manager Mia McKinney runs rehearsals and directs the stage crew while senior Allie Lewis acts as assistant to the music director. Lighting design by junior James Gallo and Everett Rende (‘15) sets the mood and complements the set which was designed by alumni Stephanie Bont (‘09) and Sam Maloney (‘10).

The spring musical is just one annual event in an ever-growing theatre program at THS. “We’ve been lucky to have the support of the THS community, the Board of Education, and especially our new First Selectman Vicki Tesoro and her husband Tom, for years. We look forward to expanding the program’s offerings and outreach in the coming years, and were glad to hear that expansion of extracurricular offerings is in the plan for improving safety and security at the high school. Students having activities they are passionate about and a school family to care for are key elements of creating a safe school climate,” noted director Jessica Spillane.

Performances of “Curtains” will run the evenings of March 16, 17, 23 & 24 at 7:30pm and for a Sunday matinee on March 18 at 2:00pm. Visit thsmusicals.com for tickets information, photos, videos, and more. Get your tickets now to find out “whodunit” and how the show--no matter what!--must go on!