Jim Thorpe students present ‘Curse of Reservoir Road’

A group of Jim Thorpe Area High School students will provide a haunting experience for the public this weekend as they present “The Curse of Reservoir Road.”

The event, which is part haunted house and part interactive ghost story, will take place Saturday and Sunday night at the Mauch Chunk Rod & Gun Club.

Admission is $5 and all proceeds go toward the high school’s spring musical production. Food and drinks will also be available.

Two Jim Thorpe students who participate in the annual musical wanted to provide a fun Halloween-themed event while raising money for this year’s production of “West Side Story,” which is scheduled to take place in the spring.

“Our town is more focused on the tourists. So this is nice to do something for the community,” said Natalie Garritano, a junior at Jim Thorpe.

Garritano and Ashley Hill, a senior, wrote the script, recruited their fellow actors, and directed the show themselves.

In preparation for the show, they assembled costumes and props and transformed the grounds and clubhouse of Mauch Chunk Rod & Gun Club with help from Garritano’s aunt Marianne Rustad and a group of parent-volunteers.

In “The Curse of Reservoir Road,” a group of hunters stake claim to a piece of land inhabited by a band of gypsies. But the gypsies get revenge with a curse and some help from a pack of werewolves.

Garritano and Hill collaborated to write the script, but they have different feelings about horror films. Garritano loves them. Hill admits she’s a scaredy cat, but said that came in handy because she could tell when they came up with an idea that would scare other people.

One thing they both love is theater. They love the creative outlet it provides.

“You’re creating a character. You get to sing beautiful music and have fun dancing. And during the shows we become a family,” Hill said.

But the school only holds one production each year. Garritano and Hill wanted to find an outlet for their talent during the fall, and help raise money for the spring production.

Rustad suggested they do a haunted house. Eventually, it morphed into more of a play.

Rustad sponsored the production through her business, Conjured Soap Boutique. Rustad’s mother is on the board of the rod and gun club, so they agreed to provide a venue for the event.

Rustad said that Garritano and Hill have done a good job balancing their busy schedules with producing the show.

“They really had to carve out time, prioritize, plan and follow through on things,” she said. “I think they got a big dose of what it’s actually like to run a production.”

They also got their first dose of directing their fellow actors. While they are actors in the show themselves, they also wanted to make sure that their fellow actors were providing a realistic performance.

“There were times I’d be working with the werewolves, and I’d see the gypsies doing something I didn’t like and I’d sprint over and be like, ‘Gypsies, I don’t want you doing that,’ ” Hill said.

Many of the actors in the haunt participate in the annual musical as well. And they also got some newcomers, who they hope will decide to come out for the musical as well.

Garritano said she’s been pleasantly surprised by her actors’ performances

“Everyone’s so into it. From the first practice, people were belting out screams and really getting into character,” she said.

“The Curse of Reservoir Road” will take place 7-10 p.m. Saturday and 7-9 p.m. Sunday at Mauch Chunk Rod & Gun Club, East Reservoir Road in Jim Thorpe. Admission is $5, and is free for children under 10, though the program is not recommended for children under 5.