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March 28th, 2024

lhs drama rehearsalLHS students rehearse a scene from the upcoming winter play “Murder’s In The Heir.” The play will be performed later this month. L&T photo/Elly GrimmELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Those looking for some live entertainment will need to look no further than the Liberal High School Drama Department later this month. 

The department is currently in rehearsals for its upcoming winter play 'Murder's in the Heir,' a play by Billy St. John. The show is being directed by LHS students Viridiana Barraza-Rivas and Brady Kappelmann. Performances of the show will take place Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m., and all of the performances will be in Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. Tickets are $3 per person for admission. 

“The show follows an eccentric billionaire who has gathered his heirs together to tell them he is changing his will and they will not receive the inheritance they were expecting. He is found dead later that night, and the investigation begins into who could have done the deed,” Barraza-Rivas said. “What's really cool is it's interactive with the audience, and the ending will be different each night because the audience gets to vote on who the murderer is during the show's intermission, which means each night could be different. I wanted to do something really fun, and this show is so interesting because it's interactive with the audience, and it's also really funny. That's what really caught my attention, so when the chance came to direct it, I jumped on it and got really excited.”

With the show being her first time in the director’s chair, Barraza-Rivas said her favorite part has been seeing her fellow classmates grow in their respective roles. 

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“My favorite part has been seeing my friends in the cast grow as actors. I'm able to understand what they're going through since I've been involved in productions in school before, so I know what the process is like and I'm able to communicate with them about what needs to be done,” Barraza-Rivas said. “Seeing them grow as actors through all of this is great because it's something I was a part of, and being able to do that for them just feels really great. Everything's new being on the directing side of everything, and there have been a few challenges along the way just making sure everyone's learning their lines and getting the schedule and everything else together for the show, and I also have a few things in my own life I'm working on with school and everything else. But the stress is actually kind of good because I'm so passionate about theatre, so I'm also having fun with it at the same time.”

With opening night only a couple weeks away, Barraza-Rivas said the cast and crew are excited to get the performances going. 

“I would say everyone's pretty excited, they're ready to put the show on. There are still some nerves here and there, but I like to remind the cast they're doing this because it's fun, and theatre is supposed to be something fun. It's also a really fun show, so that also helps. There's also been some nerves on my end since the show's being student-directed and there are times I have to remind myself I'm the one in charge of decisions being made for the play, but again, it's a fun kind of stress, so I don't really mind”

Barraza-Rivas added her high expectations for the show that weekend. 

“I hope we put on a really great show, and I'm pretty sure we will. All of my actors are prepared as far as having their lines learned, and at this point we're really focusing on blocking and smoothing out some of the rough patches in the show so everything goes the way it's supposed to throughout the show,” Barraza-Rivas said. “It's been a great experience and I've had a lot of fun with it, so I'm excited to see how the show ends up going that weekend. I would love to see a big crowd that night, it's different from some of the shows we've done in the past, and it's really fun. It's such a fun show because the audience actually gets to play a role and decides how the story ends, which isn't something seen that often in theatre. It's also fully student-run, which makes it even more of an experience for everyone.”

Overall, Barraza-Rivas said, she hopes the audience will enjoy the show that weekend. 

“I'd love to see a big crowd in the auditorium, I hope everyone is able to make it and see this show because we've all worked really hard to make it really great for the audience,” Barraza-Rivas said. “We're really excited about doing the show, we all have worked so hard on this, and I'd love to see as much support as possible for everyone involved – that's the reason we do theatre. I expect we will all have a lot of fun and hopefully the audience will enjoy seeing this story come to life in such a cool way.”