Friday night was filled with teenage girls in poodle skirts, teenage boys with slicked back hair, a principal, a reporter and a zombie… that’s right, a zombie. Welcome to the quirky, little musical “ Zombie Prom”. The story starts with two teenagers, Toffee and Jonny (no “h”) meeting and falling in love. When Toffee’s family and friends object to the relationship between the two youngsters, Toffee breaks up with Jonny. In despair, Jonny throws himself into the town’s nuclear power reactor. Toffee mourns Jonny and calls his name which eventually brings Jonny back to life – as a zombie. Jonny is a news sensation and catches the attention of Eddie, a local news reporter. The school’s principal objects to the presence of a zombie on campus and tries to get Jonny kicked out of school. The conflict continues, with an unexpected plot twist, all resulting in the final scene – prom night. 

Page Tomlinson (Toffee) did a lovely job of showing the audience her teen angst and confused love for Jonny. Her voice was nice with particularly pleasant moments in “Jonny Don’t Go” and “Easy to Say”. First time performer, Eric Morales as Jonny, is off to a promising start in his theater career. He had nice vocals with a memorable performance in “Voice From The Ocean”. The role of the school principal, Miss Strict, was very adeptly played by Mirayah McFarlin. She has a great belting voice that she easily controls through all of the dynamics of her songs. Her rendition of “Rules, Regulations and Respect” brought the house down. Elizabeth Michaud nailed the character of Eddie – from his snarky reporter self to his charming (at least he thinks so) romancer. McFarlin and Michaud appeared to have a blast playing off of one another. Their song and tango dance “Expose” nearly stopped the show. The ensemble did a great job of keeping us grounded in the 50’s and showed some real chops on “Good As It Gets” and “Isn’t It?” Some particularly enjoyable ensemble moments were Ginger’s horror at the use of cuss words, the telephone song with the girls, and the back-up dancers for Jonny’s song “How Can I Say Goodbye?”.

The show’s student directors – Hannah Rhoades and Ashlynn Dawn – did a great job of finding the comedic moments in the show and using the limited space to the best of its abilities. They should be very proud of the final product they created with their fellow students. The choreography by Nina Sheridan and Lindsay Bogati was simple and serviceable, which is a good choice if not everyone in the cast is an experienced dancer. The costumes courtesy of The Fine Arts Network were very nice and kept the show placed in the 50’s for the entire run. The sets and lighting, which could have benefited from a few colored gels, were quite plain, but not distracting from the fun mood of the show. Mr. Heid, the drama teacher at the school, should be given credit for implementing the “Senior Project” program at the school, something usually only seen at performing arts high schools. It gives the students a chance to mount a production and to be in charge of the decision-making and the creative process. Congratulations to the students of Temecula Valley High School’s “Zombie Prom” for sharing a memorable night at Enrico Fermi High School. 

Performed January 30 - February 8, 2014