From the stage-lit shadows, something wicked this way comes. 

Rehearsals for “Songs In the Key of Evil” opened Oct. 2, villainous songs from shows ranging widely between “Les Misérables” and “Shrek the Musical.” 

“I decided to audition for this show because it funds our meals for convention,” senior Emma Dezelle, singing The Little Mermaid’s ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls said. “We are quite literally performing for our food. I also love to perform. I’ve never sung in front of an audience, so I wanted to leave my comfort zone and challenge myself.”

As the entire school was invited to audition, the show accumulated students from all elective circles, pulling heavily from choir’s ranks, as was the case for sophomore Skylar Garnder.

“My fellow cast and crew members make me feel very included all the time,” Gardner, performing as Lefou from Beauty and the Beast, said. “I’m friends with a lot of them, even though I do not take any theatre classes. They’re just very friendly and always trying to include me in everything possible.”

Once cast, actors and tech crew face a de facto scheduling conflict: rehearsals for the spring musical Singing in the Rain, fall within the same period as Songs In the Key of Evil.

“Rehearsals will have to work around each other, since most of my showcase students are going to be in the musical and vice versa,” artistic director Grace Kennedy said. As thespians president, Kennedy assumed the role of artistic director, although she was casted to sing from Hairspray and Carrie: the Musical. “We will have to split 60/40. It will be tough trying to retain so much information from two very different shows, but we’ve done it before and we can definitely do it again.”

Such  a wide array of shows is to be featured due to the broad vocal range of the department and the variety of songs necessary to “showcase everyone’s unique talents,” Dezelle said.

“Because there is such a variety of songs the show does not feel so ‘one-note,’” junior and ensemble member singing from Into the Woods, Juliet Miller said. “If we all had funny songs, like from Shrek, we wouldn’t hit the hard, really scary villains, and vice versa. The reality is, there’s lots of different types of bad guys in real life and in theater and we’d be missing out if we only hit one type.”

Opening Nov. 13, tickets for the show Gardner named “a bit evil at its core,” are available now on Ticketor for $10.

“Audiences can expect a fun and enchanting performance that brings them into the stories of Disney villains, morally grey characters and their dark backstories,” sophomore Paige Newman said. Newman sings in both Cellblock Tango and Stepsister’s Lament. “It will be a show that keeps people intrigued and rooting for the characters that have never been rooted for before.”