Jason Blossom has been murdered. The small town of Riverdale is on edge and being very cautious about who they hangout out with and what they say to others. In Riverdale everybody knows each other, meaning the murderer could be your neighbour.
Throughout Extension-Korda’s original production of Not Another High School Murder you follow Cheryl Blossom (Jason Blossom’s twin) who was very close to her brother and will not stop until the murderer is caught. The students at Riverdale refer to Cheryl as the “Antichrist” as she knows how to get under people’s skin and knows how to twist stories to get her way.
Riverdale High students Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews are also intrigued about what happened to Jason. They team together to look for clues to help solve the murder and watch their back.
Not Another High School Murder was written by Gemma Cunial who also played the role of Cheryl Blossom. It was inspired by the popular Netflix TV Series “Riverdale,” which was inspired by the Archie Comics by John L. Goldsmith. Not Another High School Murder is also a musical with the music from Heathers, but with rewritten lyrics. So I guess you can say Not Another High School Murder is a parody, based on a parody, based on comics, with music from a musical that is based on a movie. Are you following me?
After watching a few episodes of Riverdale I can see where a lot of the connections are made in this parody musical. I can see why Amanda Gray and Alex Hristoff got cast as Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, as they look almost identical to the actresses in the Netflix series. Actor, Dalton Mugridge who played Jughead, may not have looked like the actor but definitely embraced the embodiment of Jughead. Pulling off a deep, dark suspicious character, who was also the narrator throughout the show.
A rather humorous scene was in Act 1 that involved Zephyr who played Archie Andrews and Carly Morrison-Hart who played Ms. Grundy. It was a spoof off of the TV series showing the secret and scandalous love affair between teacher and student.
An actor who was not originally mentioned in the program was Joey Wright who played Clifford Blossom. The reason for his program absence was that he told a number of his theatre friends he was going to take a hiatus from theatre for a little bit. When he was put in Not Another High School Murder the only people he wanted knowing was the cast and crew. They all did a great job keeping it silent. Joey was the surprise appearance of the show, shocking a number of people.
Having the music to Heathers was a good call for this show. As Heathers also carries some heavy subject matter and teen murder, making it suitable. As I said previously the lyrics to the Heathers music had been rewritten to fit this show. Example; “Beautiful” is now “Riverdale,” “Dead Girl Walking” is now “Hot Girl Stalking” and “Candy Store” becomes “Maple Store.”
Parodies are some of my favourite shows to go to. The acting is meant to be over the top and corny. You can tell the actors had a great time becoming these popular characters. It was a minimalist set, making it easy for set changes. There was a screen overhead of the stage that cast projections of things you would see in Riverdale, like the diner “Pop’s.”
Kordazone Theatre is known for its unique variety of shows. Whether it is originals, parodies, plays musical and even their annual holiday Panto’s. If you were one of the audience members of Not Another High School Murder and want to see more, make sure you check out Korda’s next show. “Strangers Among Us,” that opens May 25th.
Cast:
Dalton Mugridge as Jughead Jones
Amanda Gray as Betty Cooper
Alex Hristoff as Veronica Lodge
Zephyr as Archie Andrews
Gemma Cunial as Cheryl Blossom
Jessie Gurniak as Josie McCoy
Sara Way as Sabrina Spellman
Grace Gasparini as Juno Cooper
Riley Campbell as Kevin Keller
Carly Morrison-Hart as Ms. Grundy
Lizz Dietrich as Penelope Blossom
Tyler White as Jason Blossom
Joey Wright as Clifford Blossom
Natalie Worsley as The Basket Case
Charlotte Salisbury as The Princess
Nicholas Bourque as The Jock
Klaudia Landicho as The Nerd
Directed by Martin Ouellette
Written and Produced by Gemma Cunial
Music Directed by Colin Zorzit
Choreographed by Hope Forman
Assistant Directed and Stage Managed by Nicole Clark
Additional Lyrics by Nicholas Bourque
Scenic Design by Martin Ouellette and Nicole Clark
Poster Design by Martin Ouellette
Music Performed by Sam Poole
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