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Wolfpack Theatre Company Presents “Deadline”—A Hilarious Murder Mystery Comedy 

The Wolfpack Theatre Company is delighted to bring “Deadline” to the stage, a fast-paced, hilarious murder mystery from the mind of Don Zolidis.  Performances will take place on April 29, 30 and May 1 at 6:33 pm in the Wolfpack Theatre at Glacier High School. 

Advanced tickets for the show are available on GoFan, Glacier’s online ticketing service, and at Photo Video Plus.  Any remaining tickets will also be sold at the door.  Ticket prices are $8 for adults and $6 for children, students, and senior citizens. 

“Deadline” expertly blends suspense with humor, parodying the classic mystery genre while delivering a fresh and thrilling experience. With its eccentric characters and unexpected plot developments, this is a play you won’t want to miss. Who will survive? Who will be the next victim?

“I was looking for a show that didn’t take itself too seriously but also had a lot of interesting characters for the students to play. I have always thought that Don Zolidis is a great playwright for high school theater and after reading ‘Deadline,’ I knew it was a good choice,” said director Dwight Camillucci.  “It has humor that is appropriate for all ages, as well as great, interesting characters that any audience member can relate to and laugh with.”

 Set in a fog-shrouded island mansion in the North Atlantic, “Deadline” invites audiences to join eight eccentric mystery writers who think they’ve been gathered for a peaceful 24-hour writing retreat. But in typical Zolidis fashion, nothing is as it seems. The stage is set in a living room decorated with ominous items—guns, knives, axes, and even a shelf filled with deadly poisons. What begins as a relaxed contest to write a new novel quickly turns into a high-stakes game of survival, where the writers must outwit each other to solve—and/or potentially execute—a perfect murder.

As the plot thickens, the writers' wild schemes and absurd antics create a whirlwind of twists and turns, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.  As the suspense grows, so does the laughter. 

“Deadline” marks the official directing debut for Camilucci who has returned to GHS after graduating with a Wolfpack Theatre Founding Degree in 2012. 

After earning his Master’s Degree in 2019 in Scenic Design and Technical Direction, as well as working at several large professional regional and university theatres all around the country, Camilucci has found his Flathead Valley niche as the technical director for FVCC’s Wachholz College Center.

“But it all started right here in the Glacier High black box theatre,” said Camilucci.

The cast of “Deadline” includes: Fenyx Colby, Hilda Weber, Grace Miller, Evelyn Creighton, Naemi Creighton, Autumn Bashara, Noel Cantrell, Gabriel Luehr, Zaden Stout, Eli Sanderson Strutz, Megan Mikelson, Zach Nases and Sophie Johnson.

Behind the scenes, Drew Crane, Abigail Haley, Quinn Dunham, Izzy McKoy, Jackson Presley, Anda Wahl, Z Belt, Kyla Turley, Christina Eddins and Layla Pate.

 

Help Solve a Murder at Flathead High School’s “Murder’s in the Heir”

Flathead High School Theatre invites audiences of all ages to join the fun, channel their inner detective, and help bring justice—or chaos—to Simon Starkweather’s mansion with “Murder’s in the Heir,” a clever and comedic whodunit presented May 7 and 8 at 6:27 pm in the David M. Hashley Theatre.

Tickets for “Murder’s in the Heir” are now available for purchase online through GoFan, Flathead’s official online ticketing service. Ticket prices are $8 for adults and $6 for children, students, and senior citizens. Tickets are also available for purchase at the FHS Main Office and Photo Video Plus. If any tickets remain, they will be sold at the door on the night of the performance.

Inspired by the classic board game “Clue,” this fast-paced murder mystery by Billy St. John invites the audience to do more than sit back and watch—it calls on them to solve the crime. With a twist that sets this play apart from your average mystery, the audience actually votes at intermission to decide who the killer is. The ending changes based on their decision, so each performance offers a brand-new resolution.

“This is a fun show that has so many roles that are fun to play,” says director Luke Johnson. “Every character has a reason to kill and a weapon. They spend much of the show trying to act innocent—which makes them all look guilty. That creates a lot of really funny moments.”

Set in the opulent mansion of Simon Starkweather, a tyrannical billionaire with more enemies than friends, the story kicks off when Simon calls together his colorful cast of family members and household staff to hear the reading of his will. His longtime lawyer, Lois Van Zandt, delivers shocking news: Simon is leaving vast fortunes to his niece Fiona, her playboy son Jordan, his great-niece Paula, and his grandson Simon III—as well as to several longtime staff members. But just when everyone is celebrating, Lois reveals a bombshell: the will is about to be changed. Within hours, the heirs could lose everything.

 “Everyone is ready to kill Simon before the new will comes into effect,” Johnson explains.  “And when he does indeed end up dead, everyone becomes a suspect.”

As the lights flicker chaos is unleashed. Characters sneak through hallways carrying suspicious items—an ax, a gun, poison, a pillow, a fire poker. And when Simon is discovered murdered, it’s up to his grandson and a tenacious detective to piece together what happened. But even they won’t know the identity of the killer until you decide.

“One thing that drew us to this show was the opportunity for audience participation. At intermission, the audience chooses who the murderer is and the cast changes the ending according to the audience’s wishes,” Johnson says. “There are also a lot of fun opportunities to break the fourth wall, and the audience becomes part of the experience. We wanted to do something that felt alive, unpredictable, and fun—and this show gives us that in spades.”

The production features a talented cast of Flathead High School’s Acting 2 IB students, who have not only taken on the challenge of portraying multiple endings, but have used the show as a learning opportunity tied to International Baccalaureate Theatre curriculum. They’ve explored techniques in character development, physical storytelling, vocal dynamics, and nonverbal communication.

Johnson adds: “This cast has been working hard and having fun. They’ve taken on the challenges of making a show with hard work, but they’re also quick to laugh. Like the show itself, rehearsals have felt like a game.”

The show runs approximately 90 minutes with one intermission and with a rotating set of endings, the show can be seen more than once with a new culprit—and new laughs—every time.

The cast of “Murder’s in the Heir” includes: Taylor Welch, Elysia Hernandez, Jackson Tanner, Abigail O'Connell, Juda Torralba-Campas, Felicia Nicklaus, Fallon Maas, Cecilea Harris, Hudson Mills, Lily Amundson, Myla Johnson, Audrey Cozad, Ryker Parkman, Austin Caudill, and Fallon Maas.

The technical crew, led by tech director, Micah Horneman, includes Paisley Boykin-Smith, Iris Bruce, Lynne Beisel, Simon Ort, Jacob Linden, Bayliss Cummings, Colin Lincoln, Michele DeYoung, Mia Lamantia, Jolee Pitts, Bronson Willcut, Sophie Hebert, and Adisen Haag.