Wayne Hills Theater Workshop’s 2017 fall drama, Dial M for Murder, was recently performed in the Hills Auditorium on November 30, December 1, and December 2. The play, a chilling tale of murder and deception, was first performed in London in 1952 and was adapted for film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954.

In the three months of rehearsal before the show at Hills, the cast worked tirelessly to perfect it.

Weeks before the show, however, an unexpected development threatened to undo all the work they had done: Lydiene Ajebe, the talented actress playing female lead Margot Wendice, was forced to drop out. Freshman Kendra Lenduvsky was chosen as Ajebe’s replacement and faced the arduous task of learning a role in two weeks. Thankfully, the consensus among the cast, crew, and those who watched her perform is that she excelled at it.

Mark Noschese, a Junior who saw Dial M for Murder on Dec 1, opined on Levendusky’s performance, “I think that Kendra performed exceptionally considering the situation she was put in and I could barely tell that she only had two weeks to practice her part.”

Levendusky described her experience with Dial M for Murder as follows: “Learning the part in two weeks was very nerve-racking for me because I had never acted before and I had to learn a whole new, challenging part. Additionally, I’m a freshman, and I felt like I had to prove to everyone I was capable of something.”

Levendusky practiced tirelessly for the show, even reading through her lines in the hallway between classes, and ultimately proved a capable actor.

She acted alongside Senior Kyle Dunnigan (Tony Wendice); Juniors Brandon Kim (Max Halliday), Dylan Catania (Captain Lesgate), and Katie Durot (Inspector Hubbard); and Senior Eric Miller (Thompson). Trevor Brooks, Veronica Gail, Jade He, Joe Mezza, Joey Vitale, Kat Benedict, and Justine DeNicola had offstage speaking roles. Senior Dezi Tulipano and Freshman Christina Silvestri were the show’s stage managers. Josh Kashmann, assisted by Annie Pascale and Isabelle Wilders, was in charge of lights and sound.

Dylan Catania, another talented theater newcomer, surprised himself by getting a lead role. Catania played Captain Lesgate, an unsavory man who is blackmailed into murdering Margot Wendice.  While Lesgate is ultimately unsuccessful in killing her, Catania portrayed the would-be murderer quite successfully. During rehearsal, Catania discovered a passion for acting. He remarked, “It was truly exciting to be cast as the titular murderer, especially because it was my first time acting ever.” Catania added humorously, “Being blackmailed by Kyle and strangling Lydiene and Kendra were scary and awesome experiences.”

The show sold enough tickets to make a considerable profit and was a successful end to the high school drama careers of the cast’s seniors, including veteran Hills actor Kyle Dunnigan, whose performance as the male lead Tony Wendice impressed audiences each night.

Wayne Hills Theater Workshop’s next show, The Addams Family, will be performed in March 2018.

Click here to watch Wayne Hills TV’s special on Dial M for Murder.