North Allegheny Intermediate student play is a who-done-it's who-done-it

“Murder’s in the Heir,” being performed by a cast of North Allegheny Intermediate students, is an interactive murder mystery in which the audience will decide who the murderer should be.

The NAI spring play will be performed at the school auditorium Feb. 10 and 11 at 7 p.m., and Feb. 12 at 2 and 7 p.m. All tickets are $8 each and sold only at the door.

“Murder’s in the Heir,” authored by Billy St. John, features a family who returns home to hear the will of their rich father Simon Starkweather, played by ninth-grader Charlie Palmer. But when he is suddenly murdered, an all-out murder mystery ensues.

The twist is no one knows who did it, including the cast, said student director Cassandra Pultorak, who appreciates the play may be new to many in the audience.

“It’s not well-known show like others. I hadn’t even heard of it. It was nice to get a new perspective on something,” said Pultorak, 18. “I like that the show’s plot line can go any way, and anybody can be killed.”

At the intermission, the audience secretly will select the murderer by completing a ballot provided in their program. The directors will tally and share with the cast before the second act begins, according to Bryan Kiggins, who is producing the play with Madison Lewis, a fellow counselor at the high school.

All the actors have to learn a different ending to their character in case they’re picked as the killer.

Sophomore Ellen Milcoff, 15, who plays Michelle Davis, the private detective, just has to change how she reacts to the news.

“Davis is strict and very smart. She gets to interview all of the different characters of the show,” said Milcoff. “It will be fun to see who the murderer is going to be.”

Sophomore Maia Miller plays the cook Minerva Walker, who is sarcastic but also unpredictable in personality and behavior, going from calm to “flipping out.”

“She’s fun to play. I get to stretch my acting abilities,” said Miller, 16.

Pultorak has been part of the past four school NAI plays, as well as the musicals, a total of eight productions at the North Allegheny high schools. As a senior, this will be Pultorak’s final non-musical production.

The students also hope their performance will earn them one or more nominations for the annual Prime Stage Theater Awards, based in Pittsburgh. Someone from the organization will attend one of the performances and hopefully will nominate them for an award, said Kiggins.

Casts of nominated plays get to attend an awards ceremony in the spring, he said.

There are 15 award categories this year. North Allegheny students also participated in 2019 for their production of “The Charlotte’s Web,” taking home seven awards out of 13 categories, including Pultorak for Best Actress, Kiggins said. North Allegheny students also received Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Scenic Design, Best Student Directing, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Design, he said.

Kiggins has been directing the NAI fall and spring plays for 14 years, and this is Lewis’ first time directing, he said.

The awards are for non-musical productions and must be completely student-led. Kiggins and Lewis only mentor the students and answer questions. Otherwise, there is a student lead for costumes, hair and makeup, set design and construction, sound and technology effects, props and design, he said.

Because it’s all student-run and directed, Kiggins said, students had to take direction from their classmates, which went well.

“They’re doing awesome. It’s hard to take direction from peers. But they’re doing awesome,” Kiggins said.

There are five upper high school students working with the intermediate high school cast. There are 13 actors in the show.

“I think it’s going to be a blast on how it turns out,” he said.