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Published: December 21, 1999

Cry of the Banshee a success
Ben Kalkwarf
Columnist
The lights flickered and dimmed, as the haunting theme from the movie Halloween filled the air. The curtains drew back, reveaking a woman reading about the curse that has plagued her family for centuries.
This was the opening scene from Tim Kelly's play "Cry of the Banshee," presented by the East High Theater November 19 and 20 in the East High Audirorium.
The play was overrun with problems, like a lack of commitmant that forced the director, Cory Losenicky, to recast five times. Despite these setbacks, he and other dedicated individuals worked hard to make it a success.
"Through it all, the recasting, the setbacks, and all the troubles, the students you see detailed in this program have worked hard and are commited to make this the best play in East High's history," commented Losenicky.
The Whitman curse comes every 100 years to claim their lives untill the last of their lives untill the last of their bloodline is eliminated. Mrs. Whitman tries desperately to keep her two children and niece alive through the night. An unusual array of people, including a parapsychologist, two jewel thieves, and a bungling detective, are caught up in the curse. In the end the gypsy curse is balked by the awesome power of love.
Jason Parks (12), who played Sean, said, "The best part of the play was when Laci was strangled by Matt."
Major roles were played by Kim Ilax as Mrs. Whitman, Kara Zelinskas as Mrs. Perrson, Matt O'Brien as Roderick, Jason Parks as Sean, Melissa Ackerson as Maureen, Kim Schell as Miss Boone, Quinn Wesley as Lily, Amanda Pritchard as Dr. Hessler, Laci Barkhausen as Elizabeth, Tom Lavenz as Harry, Laurie Hinz as Carol, Alla Lonyuk as Oona, Chad Regan as Griffith, and William Kopf as Joe.
Despite moments of overacting, underacting, and simple fumbling of workds, the overall performance of this play was outstanding. Chad Regan's character provided comic relief and Alla Lonyuk's accent gave her character a very menacing aura.
"I think the students in the play are very talented and they worked really hard," claimed Melissa Johannes (11).

Updated 2/20/00 by Mike Bowser