Publishing student reviews of high school theater is the cornerstone of a new service from Florida Theater On Stage and the South Florida Critics and Awards Program, better known as The Cappies.
Now in its 21st year, the Cappies enrolls theater and journalism students, trains the m as critics and assigns them to attend shows at 25 schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The student write reviews under the mentorship of teachers and volunteers.
For more information about the Cappies, visit www.cappies.com/sfc/Home.aspx
The most recent reviews will be at the top of the page, but all of them from this fall-spring season will appear here all year, plus a few from the season before. If you have questions of this site, email muckrayk@aol,com.
By Emily Wang of Cooper City High School
Roll the dice and step into Boddy Manor! Calvary Christian Academy’s killer production of “Clue (High School Edition)” brings enough mystery, madness, and mayhem to knock the audience dead with a candlestick.
Premiering in 2017 at the Bucks County Playhouse, “Clue (High School Edition)” follows the suspicious color-coded cast of the sardonic Miss Scarlet, eccentric Mrs. Peacock, morbid Mrs. White, pompous Colonel Mustard, arrogant Professor Plum, and timid Mr. Green, as they are gathered for a dinner party where murder is on the menu. Based on the classic 1945 board game and screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, “Clue (High School Edition)” brings fast-paced humor, flying accusations, and daggers.
Leading the evening’s festivities was Brenden Llanes (as Wadsworth). Llanes skillfully navigated the duality of his character, shifting from the uptight butler to the manic mastermind. Llanes anchored the show with remarkable stage presence and comedic energy. Stepping into a demanding lead role, Llanes’s relentless stamina kept the chaos alive, effortlessly managing the frenetic guests with impressive stamina.
Joshua Solomon (as Mr. Green) and Katie Scarborough’s (Mrs. Peacock) comedic prowess left the audience dying with laughter! Solomon effortlessly handled the duplicitous nature of his character: masterfully portraying Mr. Green’s clumsy and accident-prone facade as well as his hidden persona with dynamic body language. Whether aggressively swigging from her flask or screaming bloody murder at every passing shadow, Scarborough effortlessly feigned innocence as the wife of a corrupt politician. Scarborough displayed incredible inflection and commitment to physicality, convincingly portraying that of an older woman.
Scrambling through the halls of Boddy Manor, the ensemble of The Suspects worked superbly as a unit. Their shared chemistry, exaggerated facial expressions, and use of space ensured that every character maintained their unique personality even when moving as a frantic pack. Standing out in this helter-skelter group were Isabella Muyshondt (Yvette) and Jadon Wooddell (Colonel Mustard). As the vivacious French maid, Muyshondt maintained a consistent accent and characterization, her physicality added humor to every scene. Wooddell as the Colonel mastered the art of counting potatoes as well as impeccable inflection, adding humor to his dim-witted one-liners.
The true mastermind behind the murder plot wasn’t Mr. Boddy… it was the technical crew! Stage management (Charleigh Huisman and Co.) executed the show’s breakneck pace flawlessly, managing more than 475 cues, fast-paced set transitions, and an endless log of swinging doors. The hair and makeup team transported the audience by utilizing classic 1950s aesthetics. While minor elements may have been too bold, features such as Miss Scarlet’s wig and Colonel Mustard’s mustache perfectly captured their iconic looks. Additionally, the props team (Charlotte Carroll, Holly Jardina, Bianca Gonzalez, and Emily Jimenez) truly honed their craft. Ideas such as the infamous murder weapons designed to look like life-sized board game pieces added a nostalgic nod to the source material.
Ultimately, it wasn’t Mrs. White with a rope in the billiard room or Mrs. Peacock with a dagger in the kitchen that left the audience gasping, it was the masterful talent of Calvary Christian Academy’s cast and crew.
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By Agustin Adames of Cooper City High School
On a dark and stormy night, at Calvary Christian Academy’s killer production of “Clue (High School Edition),” the truth is uncovered about the wicked acts committed at the Boddy Manor. Step inside for a night of mystery, comedy, and turmoil, but beware, you never know if you’ll be the next victim!
Clue #1! The fast-paced play is based on a screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, which was adapted from the murder mystery board game of the same title. Premiering at the Bucks County Playhouse, the night follows houseguests, a butler, and a maid as they try to uncover who is to blame for these unruly deaths. With lots of mayhem throughout the night, and the lives of everyone on the line, the story brings the audience in to figure out, whodunnit?
Clue #2! Leading the group through each room of the house, Brenden Llanes (as Wadsworth) showed a pristine sense of elegance, exquisitely performing outstanding monologues that left the audience stunned while successfully building up the entire story. Through his strong physicality, Llanes made it very clear how uptight, yet calculated, Wadsworth is.
Clue #3! Joshua Solomon (Mr. Green) stole the show with his stupendous acting skills, successfully portraying two styles of characters. Solomon flawlessly flipped between a very timid, anxious person and a duplicitous, secretive one. His dialect could be the talk of the town, as it perfectly demonstrated the character’s nature and how he acted. While not being a part of the houseguests, Isabella Muyshondt (Yvette) did not go unnoticed. With a duster in hand, Muyshondt seamlessly brushed along through the story with the rest of the cast. With her physicality always being on point, she did an impeccable job as the maid of the house.
Clue #4! With the story revolving around them, The Suspects were the main focus of the night. As they each left a trace of evidence behind, they all worked cohesively together to build the wild environment that is showcased onstage. Whether in pairs or as a whole group, The Suspects united together to form strong chemistry with each other, keeping the fast-paced comedy alive.
Clue #5! While all the madness occurred in the house, the stage management team (Charleigh Huisman and Co.) had to make sure to hit every cue, and this was no issue for them. Huisman and Co. worked splendidly together at setting all the pandemonium onstage, which was especially impressive given the level of difficulty. The hair and makeup team successfully made each character stand out like the dagger in the cook’s back. While there were some points where certain aspects of the makeup seemed to be a little too bold, the hair managed to balance it all out.
Calvary Christian Academy is found guilty of putting on an exceptional production of “Clue (High School Edition).” Through solving the mysteries of the night, the cast and crew watched their every step when crafting all the action that occurred at the Boddy Manor!
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By Emily Fernandez of Somerset Arts Conservatory
It’s a matter of life or death… and Calvary Christian Academy’s performance of “Clue (High School Edition)” was to die for! Beneath a cloud of fog is a performance filled with mystery, suspense, and hysterics.
First hitting stages in 2017, Sandy Rustin’s “Clue: On Stage” based on the 1943 board game and the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn was later adapted to “Clue (High School Edition)” in 2022. The board game was used to entertain those during the wartime blackouts and raids. Since then, the play has done the exact same by entertaining audiences with its fast-paced comedy and attention grabbing whodunnit mystery for years since. The play follows six blackmailed guests forced to a party in Boddy Manor. Little did they know the night would end with murder, imprisonment, and the death of not only the other party-goers but also of their innocence.
Brenden Llanes portraying the role of Wadsworth was like a rollercoaster of emotion, beginning with his larger than life personality, then the twists and turns of his descent to insanity, throwing the entire audience for a loop till his final breath left his lungs; Llanes followed through every moment on stage until the very end. Joshua Solomon, as Mr. Green, proved that sometimes even the dorkiest guests have the darkest secrets. His descent from awkward guest to sinister suspect was one of the production’s most delicious surprises.
Portraying Mrs. Peacock, Katie Scarborough went out on stage with a presence that rattled the minds of those lucky enough to watch. A character with such volatility, unable to mask her secrets, Scarborough brought this character to life with every word she uttered leaving the audience roaring with laughter.
Every single character on stage held their own so different from each other yet when all guests were together an inexplicably beautiful portrait was created revealing how harmonious this cast was when they all came together. What made this so captivating was not only each actor’s individuality, but how they all played off of each other like parts of a board game.
The sweetness of suspense carried throughout the entire production but the storytelling was done not only by the actors but of those offstage; Charleigh Huisman commanded the technical team with precision, not a single cue out of 475+ were even a second late permitting audiences to be fully immersed in every second of the show. “Clue (High School Edition)” is a period piece and from the moment each actor stepped onstage the audience was transported through time into 1954 with every makeup look and wig done by Anisa Seymour and Co.
With the lying and heartless manor of the party guests some of their hearts were cold long before a single person had been murdered. Calvary Christian Academy’s “Clue (High School Edition)” left audiences understanding whodunit but questioning why they had.
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By Valentina Exposito of Somerset Arts Conservatory
The pieces are set, the suspects are gathered, and murder is on the menu at Calvary Christian Academy’s delightfully deceptive (and equal parts deadly) production of Clue (High School Edition).
First taking a roll of the dice in 1949 as a beloved game board, Clue (High School Edition) eventually played its way to its theatrical premiere at Bucks County Playhouse in 2017. Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn and adapted by Sandy Rustin, this fatal farce takes place in the Boddy Manor, where six unsuspecting guests are invited to uncover the deception and death that hide behind every door… even the secret ones. Amid the macabre mayhem of this murder mystery lies the biggest question of the evening: whodunnit?
Every suspect at Boddy Manor carried their own peculiar brand of personality, yet as a collective, they fit together like pivotal pawns on a board. Their timing was as sharp as a dagger, their rhythm instinctive, and their chemistry was criminally cohesive. Each performer brought their own case of characterization and quirks to the dinner party, with each idiosyncrasy becoming another clue for their comedic cache. The result? A steaming kettle of chaos, where every moment of practiced pandemonium had a motive and nobody was above suspicion.
Among the colorful cast of blackmailed guests, Professor Plum, portrayed by Brandon Dolan, proved that precision can pack quite a punch… revolver in hand or not! Dolan’s dynamic range allowed his bigger moments to burst with brilliant comedic impact; his ability to ebb, explode, and then effortlessly reel himself back in made every outburst land with killer comedy. Another suspect worth keeping an eye on was Joshua Solomon’s Mr. Green, who hid behind a hilariously dorky demeanor that left the audience dying of laughter (not literally!). Solomon became his own perfect foil, trading the havoc of a hectic house guest for an undercover agent ready to end the grisly game once and for all.
Keeping this deadly dinner party from descending into complete disarray were the perfect alibis: the stage management team headed by Charleigh Huisman. Undertaking the coordination of an astonishing 475+ complex cues, Huisman and her team executed each with incredible precision; no easy feat for a show that thrives on split second chaos. Taking the board game off the table and onto the stage was the props team, led by Charlotte Carroll, Holly Jardina, Bianca Gonzalez, and Emily Jimenez. By thoughtfully peppering the props of the production with throwbacks to the original game’s elements, they provided a delightful dose of deja vu for longtime players!
Turns out, sometimes the most obvious answers are right beneath our noses. Calvary Christian Academy’s Clue (High School Edition) proved that the best way to revive a classic is not to reinvent the game, but to know exactly how to play it. It only took a cocktail minute to crack the case… and this one was guilty of delivering a killer night of theatre!
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