Jessica Cranshaw is murdered on opening night during the curtain call of Robbin’ Hood of the Old West. Lieutenant Cioffi and Detective O’Farrell are on the case. Everyone is a suspect. Can you figure out who did it before the end of the show?

Come see Curtains, a show-within-a-show murder mystery, being presented by the Pattonville Theatre Department Feb. 16-19 in the high school auditorium.

Less than a month away, the cast and crew are preparing for opening night. A lot of hard work has gone into this production since November.

“Honestly, I’m really nervous because this is my first speaking role in any of the school productions that I’ve been apart of,” said Melissa Santana (12) who is playing Jenny Harmon, the stage manager.  “I’m also excited to see how everything turns out.”

Jarred McCormick (10) is only concerned for part of his performance.

“I’m worried about dancing because I’m not the best dancer, but I have my lines and singing down,” said McCormick who plays Christopher Belling, the director. “I’m really excited to perform with everyone because I know it will turn out well.”

The box office crew is preparing to start decorating the lobby and publicizing the musical.

“The decorations add a great feeling of suspense to the show before you enter,” Christie Jiang (11) said. “We are going to hang detective themed decorations and suspect flyers all around the lobby of the auditorium.”

The group is also planning to use social media to promote the show.

“To publicize the show, everyone in box office is going to post suspect profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat throughout the two weeks leading up to show night,” Elise Tompkins (9) said. “That way we can get the word out to as many people as we can and get people hyped up to come see the show.”

Curtains will be performed in the Pattonville High School Auditorium on:

• Thursday, Feb. 16 – 7 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 17 – 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 19 – 2 p.m.