The NHIS Performing Arts Center sure put on a show to remember with their Halloween Spooktacular entitled BOO! that took place on October 28 to 30 in the Nanakuli High and Intermediate Multi-Purpose Building.

When you first walk into the building, it looks like how an ordinary cafeteria would look like with all of the tables set up. The kitchen area and the two doors closest to the stage were blocked off by a black curtain. The stage follows the Halloween theme with a huge spiderweb hanging above the stage, along with creepy dolls hanging from the sides.

The production featured a set of songs that were supposed to relate to horror and fear ranging from Broadway hits to many popular tracks from today. While at first look many may question the peculiar song choices, like Love Yourself, Who’s Loving You, and Starships, but the performers did not disappoint with their hilarious narrations that had everyone in the audience tearing.

NPAC performed 29 songs that included numbers such as “Time Warp,” “Stitches,” “Thriller,” “Dog Days Are Over,” “Breathe 2 AM,” “Boogie Shoes,” and more.

Some of the highlights included the song narrations. For example, the popular song Hello by Adele is about Adele reconnecting with herself, in the production the song is about a creepy ex-girlfriend who doesn’t stop calling her ex.

Following each narration was the line, “Oooh Spooky.” It was inevitable that you would hear audience members saying, “Oooh Spooky” after each narration and even as they left the cafe.

Chanel Kaeo-Fatokun, audience member, said, “I love the singing, they sing so well, they dance well, and I really love when they do the, I don’t know what you call it, but I like when they interpret songs through dance.”

Although the show was a success, there were some big challenges that the cast had to face during the week prior to the Halloween production. According to Deja Ceruti, NPAC alumni staff, “We had almost 20 kids that had caught the flu this past week so we have not done any dress rehearsals.”

The performers also ran into some challenges of their own.

Kianie Ka’aihue, a performer, said, “One of my challenges was singing in front of a bunch of people for the first time. I overcame it by practicing a lot and Tali (alumni staff) showed me this weird dance to do to get your nerves out before you go up on stage.”

Malachi Keohuloa, a performer, also said that his biggest challenge was choreographing his first song and helping the younger kids in the program learn some of the moves.

There were some suggestions from the audience to improve the show.

Joseph Peoples, audience member, said, “Maybe some wireless mics or earpieces and maybe some modern songs that matches with the whole theme of the performance as well.”

Kodie Butler, audience member, said, “I might have changed the songs a little. I think maybe bringing in new songs and keeping more modern choreographing would be a better addition.”

For the most part, the production received nothing but praises from the audience.

Kaeo-Fatokun said, “It looked like they put in a lot of work and a lot of energy, memorizing all that steps, I don’t think that I would be able to do that. It was very entertaining, I was entertained throughout the whole performance.”

Butler also said, “I think they did really well. I know that they’ve been practicing for a while and it really shows in their work. They’re really passionate about it all and overall, they did an extraordinary job.”

Christian Kaeo, NPAC staff member, said, “It’s always a fun performance, I like it because it has a variety so there’s something for everybody- whether it’s the older crowd or the younger crowd. It’s exciting, it’s festive, it’s great for the family.”

Ceruti also said, “I think with everything, everybody just had a lot of fun, and we’re just proud of them from the growth that we’ve seen from when we first started until now it’s been really great. It doesn’t matter how they looked, everybody just worked super hard to get this show and everybody’s just working really hard.”