‘Murder and mayhem collide’

Preparing for a radio station's first, on-air broadcast would go a lot smoother if there weren't so many murders! Gee whiz.

Such disastrous odds would crumble any real radio crew’s chances of success, but the fictitious team at WCKY isn’t about to let a little death get in the way. Sure, the police are going to get involved and suspicions will be at an all-time high, but the show must go on, as they say.

The cast of “WCKY” — the latest Newton High School Drama production— has a farcical murder-mystery on their hands, and it’s up to them to maintain the high energy needed to make the comedy stick. Director Melinda Worthington said “murder and mayhem collide” in a hilarious fashion.

“It’s a high energy, slapstick-type comedy,” Worthington said of the upcoming play. “The biggest challenge would be keeping the pace of the show going. So to do that, of course, you have to have your lines memorized so that we don’t drop our pace.”

Extra care has been taken to accurately capture the 1939 setting the play is based in. Between the old-style microphones, period clothing, stand by/on-air light displays and typewriter, Worthington said it should be no problem for her student actors to feel like they’re working in an older era.

“It was a lot of fun being able to do that,” Worthington said, acknowledging the Newton Community Theatre allowed the school to borrow costumes and props. “Once I started bringing out the typewriter they all wanted it and thought it was so much cooler than their iPad or Chromebooks.”

Keeping in line with the era, the stage and eponymous radio station are equipped with a Foley table stacked with props to recreate sound effects for the broadcasts. A few sound effects come from the soundbooth, but Worthington said a fair bit come from the Foley table itself.

“The sound effects are being made onstage, which is how they did it in radio stations (in the past),” Worthington said. “So they’ve gotten to learn a little bit about history and also learn how to make sound effects out of weird, obscure things that you might not think about making that particular noise.”

Several characters in “WCKY” have been double cast for the four open showtimes Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Center for Performance in Newton High School. Worthington said this allows select students to share their roles with another person for subsequent shows.

Each double casted actor will perform twice, essentially. A number of other student actors will be performing all four shows. Worthington said this is the first time Newton High School Drama has expanded its showtimes from two to four, which can mean even more chances for families to support the play.

“The characters in the show are not ‘just-stand-up-and-say-your-lines’ — they had to be developed,” Worthington said. “And these kids have done a wonderful job of developing these characters. I think (the audience) will really enjoy these characters and will enjoy the high energy of the show.”

“WCKY” begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Center for Performance in Newton High School.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com