Audiences attending this year’s school play will not just watch the performance, they will also get to choose the ending. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” a musical based on Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name, is unique in that audience votes will determine the story’s outcome.

“In picking a play, I try to pick a show that has a lot of parts that will excite students, will be interesting to watch, will be challenging for students and is appropriate for high school actors,” Director of Arts Education David Solomon said.

Solomon organized this year’s audition schedule, which consisted of two days of regular auditions and, for those who made it, one day of callbacks. He is also in charge of instructing the actors, managing the performance and finding people to make the costumes and the set. Solomon finds auditions to be exciting, especially after a long, thought provoking process over the summer to choose the musical.

“I am always really excited when I see a student who has auditioned from seventh grade onward, and you watch them grow from year to year,” Solomon said. “I can think back on a number of students who seeing them audition as seniors [and] remembering them audition in middle school, [I think] about how far they’ve come.”

One actor who has been involved in the theater program since middle school is junior Nicolas Escobar. Escobar was in last year’s high school musical and two middle school musicals, and he decided to audition for this year’s musical as well.

Even the most experienced actors, however, can get stage fright, just as Escobar had prior to his audition.

“I get a rush of adrenaline and my heart starts beating fast when I go up,” Escobar said.

But, like others, once Escobar becomes comfortable up on the stage, he is more than ready to audition.

Thirty one students this year auditioned for the musical. Of those, 12 of them are new actors, including senior Ethan Josovitz. Josovitz said he always wanted to audition for the musical, but school work was an obstacle. With a free period this year, however, his workload has been significantly lightened. Josovitz was ecstatic he finally had the chance to audition for this year’s play.

Josovitz actually found out about auditions the day they happened, but being in music class for his last period of the day gave him a chance to improvise for his audition. He decided to sing “Riptide” by Vance Joy.

“I just had a fun time with it and I didn’t take myself too seriously because I think that takes away the fun of acting and having fun with what you’re doing,” Josovitz said.

Many other new faces joined the cast this year, but Escobar has the same advice for them as he would experienced actors.

“Don’t be afraid to be out there, be confident in yourself,” Escobar said. “Give it all you’ve got, and have fun.”