Toms River North Theatre Group Musical Goes From Stage To Screen

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The saying in theatre is "The show must go on," but in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that has been a challenge.

So, like so many high school theatre troupes, the Nautical Stars at Toms River High School North has had to find other ways for the students to showcase their talents. This spring, that quest has been further complicated by the long-overdue renovations of the school's auditorium.

The show has gone on, however, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can see the fruits of the students' perseverance in the performances of their spring musical, "A Killer Party." Rather than a live stage performance, the murder mystery musical has been turned into a movie that will be shown online.

The cast and crew spent more than 50 hours working on the production, including nine days of filming on location at a student's home because of the auditorium renovations. They spent another day filming with a green screen, all while making sure they followed safety guidelines imposed due to the pandemic, according to the Nautical Stars' Facebook page.

"A Killer Party" was designed as a digital performance in the midst of the pandemic in the summer of 2020, and centers on a dinner party thrown by Varthur McArthur, who the New York Times describes as puffed-up former Broadway child actor who had a lead role in "Les Misérables" "until his voice tragically changed." The people he's invited all have motives to kill him — and one of them does. Justine Case is assigned to solve the whodunit.

The Times review calls a spoof and a nod to Agatha Christie mysteries.

You can watch the Nautical Stars' performance for $10, either during one of the live showings, at 7 p.m. Thursday or 7 p.m. Friday, or through video-on-demand starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. Video-on-demand will be available through May 1, and the show can be watched at any time during that time.

The digital performance is presented through an arrangement with Music Theatre International, which holds the rights to the musical.

If you love musicals, or if you simply love to support budding actors and high school drama clubs, you can purchase tickets online here. The purchase supports the theatre group's activities.

Click here to get Patch email notifications, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.