ADDISON-Suspense, thrill and disbelief filled the air as two bidders continued to fight for a cookie cake. As the bid rose rapidly, so did the energy of the audience members. 

On Friday, the Coppell High School theater department hosted its annual Theater Dinner Revue and silent auction, which had approximately 250 attendees. 

The theater department hosts this event to raise funds for its program and gain publicity for their musicals. 

Directing and producing a musical is expensive. Obtaining the rights to perform a musical can cost around $3,500. Therefore, the department took the event off-campus, instead of hosting it at the CHS cafeteria.  

“We took it off campus to a nicer venue to try and encourage a more upscale feel and hopefully bigger spenders,” CHS theater director Karen Ruth said. 

The event started with attendees socializing with one another and glancing at the items available for bids. 

Of the items up for bid, many included gift cards, hotel packages, desks and even an electric guitar. 

The revue opened with theater officers and CHS seniors Carrie Sheffield, Camryn Rudd and Sophia Sircar dancing to the song “Super Trouper”. 

Other events included a hypnotist act performed by CHS seniors Fran Jaubert, Aadhya Chinta, Millie Colman and Claire Harris, which even included a live snake on stage. CHS seniors Drew Scrivner and Kaylee Pinkckret performed a humorous sign language interpretation to “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, which had the audience members laughing until their stomachs hurt. 

“Usually we stick with traditional arts like singing, dancing and acting, but this year we really tried to bring it out of the box by bringing live animals on stage or doing fun skits with umbrellas or shadow puppets,” CHS senior Aadhya Chintha said.  

Silent auction bids were finalized during breaks between performances.

This year, the event also included a live auction of baked goods. 

Items such as Nothing Bundt cakes, cakes from the 85 Degree restaurant and even homemade cakes were up for bids, reaching prices of up to $200, leaving many in awe. 

However, this year’s revue and silent auction also have a deeper meaning. 

With the construction of CHS9, it was harder for the freshmen to be fully immersed into the theater program. 

“We really want to try to encourage those kids that they are a part of high school,” booster club vice president Joey Peterman said. “Even though they are on a separate campus, they’re still apart of our family as a theater department. 

Therefore, this event is also a way for the freshman to display their talents and bond even more with their upperclassmen. 

The CHS9 Take One students performed shadow puppets. The lights in the dining hall were dimmed and the freshman displayed flexible abilities behind the screen recreating the “Game of Life” and “A Child’s Nightmare” through shadows.  

“We had been working in class for a month on these,” CHS9 theater director Lauren Holt said. “It started off with an idea and then I was like okay come up, and we came up with a story, and then we were like alright are we flexible are we not flexible? Do we have the ability to flip over each other?” 

However, the hard work did pay off for many CHS9 Take-1 students. 

“We performed the shadow puppets so that took about a month to prepare and make the props for and it was really fun,” CHS9 student Angelina Liu said. 

With months of preparation for the event, the theater department is pleased with the turnout of the event. 

“We just have such a wonderful theater family and a wonderful supportive group of parents and students and department in general,” Ruth said. 

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