When Powell High School senior Justin Dusenberry first moved to Powell from Virginia, he was a shy kid. Then, he said, he found his voice, found his people and found his purpose with the PHS drama program. 

Now he’s thrilled to be part of a double feature the students are putting on this February. The shows will be the second to last high school performance of his high school theater career. 

“I plan to pursue musical theater past high school, and it’s just really meaningful that I get to do these … very contrasting shows that kind of have never really been done for the play season, at least to my knowledge, with some incredible actors, with all of my friends, all my peers,” he said. “I was a very shy kid when I first moved here from Virginia, and so all these people around me have really seen me grow as just a person, and kind of break out of my anxiety and find my love for theater, which I am really appreciative for.”

Students will be putting on a dark comedy, “Cheating Death,” by Kamron Klitgaard, ahead of a murder mystery dinner theater event, “Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion,” by Ian McWethy, at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Heart Mountain Hall in the Park County Fairgrounds. 

Both are one act plays — separated by an intermission — with the former a chance for the seniors to shine, before the full club gets in on the action in the latter. 

Dusenberry plays Ron in “Cheating Death” and Shaggy and Scooby Do (a puppet) in the second performance coming with dinner, which features a range of fictional detectives from Sherlock Holmes to the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Batman and, of course, Scooby Doo and the other members of Mystery Inc. 

Elaina Kousoulos and Levi Hawley are likewise seniors excited for the double feature. 

Kousoulos, who plays, like Dusenberry, another of the people trying to cheat death in the first play and a frustrated actual detective trying to solve a murder in the second, likes the change this spring. 

The program will still finish the year with a spring musical. 

“I think I’m pretty happy with the show, honestly, the two shows that we’re doing, and then the musical later,” she said. “I’m pretty excited.”

Hawley, whose goal after high school is to become a voice actor, said he likes the range he gets to use for his voice in the double feature. He plays Death in the opener and Batman in the second event. 

“So I’ve been enjoying these shows in particular because they’ve been challenging my voice,” saying past roles have often allowed him to use his regular voice or near to it. “But with these ones, like with Batman, I have a lower, more gravelly one. With Death, I have more of a mix between deeper-voiced businessman and game show host.”

The students have been working since the fall on the two one-act plays, under the direction of drama coach Kristin Cuddy, in her first year as head coach. She was the assistant drama coach for the previous four years. 

“We haven’t done the double feature one-acts before and it was a bit of an experiment. With an extra one-act comes more behind-the-scenes work and memorization for the kids, but they always rise to the challenge,” she said. “One show is a drama and the other is a murder mystery comedy. The murder mysteries tend to be popular with our audiences in recent years. It gives the kids the opportunity to get experience with different types of roles and production challenges while also still including a show that’s a crowd-pleaser.”

Tickets cost $20 for general admission, $10 for students and dinner includes lasagna, salad, dessert and drinks. 

Cast lists:

“Cheating Death”

Bob — Curtis Muecke

Ann — Paige McConnell

Sue — Elizabeth (Blitz) Halberstadt

Ron — Justin Dusenberry

Deb — Estrella Gonzales

Sam — Elaina Kousoulos

Death — Levi Hawley

“Too Many Detectives at the Murder Mansion”

Miss Marple — Elizabeth (Blitz) Halberstadt

Madame Doyle — Natalie Warner

Sherlock Holmes — Riku Cook

Sam Spade — Ian Gibson

Shaggy/Scooby — Justin Dusenberry

Velma — Anika Anderson

Fred — Curtis Muecke

Daphne — Estrella Gonzales

Batman — Levi Hawley

Nancy Drew — Paige McConnell

Frankie Hardy — Cassidy Van Lake

Joey Hardy — Natalie Munguia

Detective Kane — Elaina Kousoulos

Detective Christie — Reina Hansen

Murder Fans — Alex Turner, Bailey (Colt) Urwiller, Vivienne Dodd

911 Operator — Curtis Muecke

Production team and crew

Director — Kristin Cuddy

Assistance director — Rachel Nicholson

Stage managers — Deeanna Gibson, Sheyna George

Lighting — Maysyn Schuler, Justin Dusenberry

Set, props, other crew — Lilly Owen, Moe Blevins, Austin Sears