By Amy Orr | LB Indy
There will be no singing princesses or brave knights in the fall production at Laguna Beach High this year.
Instead, the school’s theater will be filled with ghouls and gore. Under the direction of Alexis Karol and Celena Marie DelPizzo-Howell, a spine-tingling spectacle opens on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Departing from traditional theatrical selections, Karol opted for horror this Halloween season. Flesh-eating zombies will roam the theater for two weekends as students perform an adaption of the 1968 cult classic film, “Night of the Living Dead”.
The 47 person cast features 37 Laguna Beach High School actors and 10 Thurston Middle School performers. Most of the group has been working together since September, rehearsing four nights a week, to bring this dark drama to life.
Viewers will watch things go from bad to worse when a group of strangers use a farmhouse to hide from a horde of hungry corpses. The frantic group should band together, but in classic fashion, their internal efforts are hindered by fear and mistrust.
LBHS senior Ian Winefordner, who plays Ben in the production, says “my character is the voice of reason amongst a cacophony of panic and brashness.” He describes “Night of the Living Dead” as the perfect way to celebrate the spirit of Halloween. “What better way to kick off the holiday than to see a group of strangers try to survive an endless onslaught of zombies?” Ian asks.
“The stakes are high in any play,” sophomore Zoe Waters says. “But with horror, an intensity is brought out in the theater that affects everyone even more drastically.” Zoe says she likes the show because of its crazy circumstances and complex characters.
“The character that I play, Barbara, is a sheltered, rich girl, whose life is turned upside down by the zombies’ attacks on her and her brother, which shock her into an almost catatonic state for the play,” says Zoe.
Each zombie attack is carefully choreographed, thanks to Michael Irish, an LBHS graduate who now works as an actor in New York. Karol lists Irish as an incredible asset to this production.
“He worked directly with the cast, staging the fights for the show,” Karol says, “and also taught master classes in stage combat to all of our Thurston Middle School and LBHS students.”
Those familiar with the original black and white film will appreciate the fact that LBHS has chosen to present the play in grayscale.
“The set, costumes, and props are all black, white, or gray, with the exception of zombie blood,” Karol says.
Zombie blood, and other gruesome features, are essential elements in a show about the living dead. Earlier this month, cast members got a chance to learn application techniques from Rachel Kooyman, a professional makeup designer. According to Karol, Ms. Kooyman offered a special seminar to train cast members and give them the supplies to create hollow, haunted faces throughout the run of the play.
To make the zombies seem even more authentic, cast members were given creative license on their characters and back stories. DelPizzo-Howell points out that “their costuming and makeup reflects the awesome choices they made.”
Karol, who has directed this show twice before, asked Chris Caputo of Legacy Theatrical to create the set for LBHS. She says that most of the show takes place in the farmhouse, although some projected images appear on a removable scrim hanging in front of the house.
Performances of “Night of the Living Dead” are Oct. 28 at 7 p.m., Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m., Nov. 2-4 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for adults, and premium for $20. Visit lbhs.booktix.com for tickets.
Note: Parental Discretion Advised—”Night of the Living Dead” may be too intense for children under 13.
