The ceremonial ribbon was cut on the auditorium stage by Interim Principal Tim Scanlon and school board president James Marciniak.  Members of Student Association and faculty were invited on stage to help hold the ribbon.  The RB choir, band and orchestra were also present on stage to do musical interludes throughout the ceremony.

Student Association Executive Board members Stephanie Duve and Zeyne Guzeldereli gave speeches about their experiences during the renovation period.  Scanlon, as well as Assistant Principal John Passarella and some of the head construction workers who worked on the project, also gave speeches.

Passarella gave his speech commemorating his predecessor Bill Lehotsky, who passed away from cancer this past year.  Room 201, one of the newly renovated rooms in the building, was dedicated to Lehotsky in honor of his memory.

SA Student President Kelly Sherman also put together items for a time capsule that will be used to show a future generation of RB students what the school was like at this time.  The time capsule will be stored between walls in student services and will be opened in 50 years.

Some of the items in the capsule include: playbills, a lunch menu, state universities at a glance, a cheerleading uniform, a pom pom, a homecoming party favor, a community of caring key chain, an RB flag, a yearbook, and a recent hard copy issue of the Clarion.

“I was honored to be able to put together the time capsule,” said Sherman, “These items exemplify the RB community today.”

After the official ceremony took place in the auditorium, interested community members were led on tours by students who showed them the best features of the renovation.  This included the reconstructed science labs, the new community accessible fitness center, the reconstructed swimming pool and the redesigned cafeteria kitchen and serving area.

RB’s presentation of The Murder Room may sound dark and mysterious, but its clueless, wacky characters made it just the opposite.  The performance kept the audience on the edge of their seats and laughing the entire time.

The small cast of six allowed the audience to connect with the characters and get a sense of who they really were.  Senior Zeyne Guzeldereli played the role of Mr. Edgar Hollister as well as police constable, Abel Howard.

“I’ve done original comedy before and that requires me to be 5 or 6 different characters,” said Guzeldereli, “so this was a piece of cake.”

His favorite role of the two was Edgar Hollister because he was crazy and eccentric.  Other characters in the show included Edgar’s ditsy daughter Susan (Stephanie Duve) and her laid back American fiancé (Dovas Lietuvninkas), Lottie Molloy, the Hollister’s sassy older housekeeper (Olivia Toriumi), the inquisitive inspector Crandall (Nathan Smith), and the devious Mavis Templeton Hollister, Edgar’s recent bride (Olivia Landa).

As the police and Mr. Hollister’s loved ones attempt to discover the truth behind his disappearance, secret identities are revealed and one discovery leads to another.  The suspicion of murder flies around and ironically the Hollister home has a secret room nicknamed “The Murder Room.”

The Murder Room’s twisted plot and quick, witty dialogue kept audience members entertained and often as confused as the characters, which seemed to be the point.  If it wasn’t the humorous dialogue keeping viewers amused, it was the secret contraptions and props used for the show.

Some of the clever contraptions on set included a drawer that flew open when the top of the desk was pounded, a window seat that led to “The Murder Room” and could only be opened by a very specific procedure involving the coat stand, and a picture frame on hinges that took the whole cast to operate.

A bicycle was another surprising prop that made a quick appearance in the show. Susan’s fiancé Barry rode in housekeeper Lottie Molloy on the handlebars, carefully maneuvering around furniture on the set.

“We had to practice the bike scene a lot to get it down,” said Toriumi .

With a plot that never slowed down and characters with secret identities and hidden agendas, the cast of The Murder Room put on a killer performance to say the least.

The group performed in the hospital’s chapel for a small live audience, while hundreds of patients watched the performance live from the televisions in their rooms.  The event was televised throughout the hospital and made available for everyone who wanted to watch it.

This was the Madrigal’s second time performing at Hines Hospital and the singers came well prepared.

“We learned all of our own music during class and practiced outside of school,” said senior and Madrigal singer Stephanie Duve, “It was our first performance of the year and it went really well.”

The group performed its entire fall repertoire, which includes “Danny Boy”, “Good Day to Your Heart”, “Sing We and Chant It” and an encore performance of the Armed Forces song.

“It was cool to be able to perform the Armed Forces Song,” Duve said, “It had a huge impact on the veterans.”

The performance was looked forward to by all of the patients and workers at the hospital.

“A doctor and pastor at the hospital told us that people were so excited we were there,” said Duve.

The songs performed at the hospital were added to the group’s selection and many of the pieces will be performed again for future concerts.

The group’s first performance was successful and rewarding not only for the patients and veterans at Hines, but for the RB Madrigals as well.

“Music is a form of expression and it’s a universal symbol,” Duve said, “It’s something that brings people together.”