| Stage Fright | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 15 | |
| |
| Air date | January 14, 2012 |
| Written by | Erik Patterson & Jessica Scott |
| Directed by | Peter DeLuise |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous "The Most Evil Sorcerer" |
Next "Night of the Mummy" |
"Stage Fright" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series. It first aired on January 14, 2012.
Summary[]
It's the opening night for the high school production "Hansel and Gretel: The Musical!" and the school drama club find out that the play may be cursed when odd and unexpected circumstances continue to arise.
Plot[]
A high school drama club is doing a play based on the story of Hansel and Gretel. They are in the middle of a dress rehearsal when it comes to the witches cue. Gina, the witch, is late for the third time, claiming that she was still doing yoga. The cast get into a tense argument, during which it's revealed that Michelle, who plays a tree, broke her leg during a previous rehearsal, and Jen stepped in to take her previous role of Gretel only 3 days before.
They have a quick session of criticism from their teacher, Ms. Browser. When she's done giving her notebook notes, she leaves to get treats and cookies for everyone for the end of rehearsal. Keri, a crew member, tells the cast (apparently not for the first time), that they are having all these problems because the play is cursed by evil Witch. She says that whenever other schools have put on productions of Hansel and Gretel, terrible things happen. For instance, at one school in Iowa the actor playing Hansel was beheaded onstage with a Japanese sword. The rest of the kids are unimpressed, laughing and saying that it's all just superstition. Sam, who plays Hansel, jokingly yells "Bring it on, witch!" After this outburst, a spotlight sparks and explodes. A mysterious figure watches this happen from the shadows.
Rayline, a stage hand, goes looking for Ms. Browser, but she is nowhere to be found. She decides to purchase a drink from a vending machine, but an unseen figure attacks her, leaving nothing but her headset behind.
The next night is opening night, and Ms. Browser is giving the cast and crew M&M cookies. Keri is concerned about Rayline and stressed that she is not answering her cellphone. She is now left to do both her and Rayline's part in the production alone. Ms. Browser is determinedly optimistic, blowing off Keri's concerns and continuing handing out cookies to the cast. The play starts off well. However, when Jesse (the father in the play) goes backstage for a prop, he is attacked, grabbed and dragged off by an unseen figure. At this point, everything goes south.
The thespians improvise, very badly. Lanie (the stepmother in their play) barges off backstage after verbally fighting with Michelle and Sam on stage. The unseen figure grabs onto her shoulders from behind and drags her away like a rag doll, knocking over a large plastic bowl of Miss Browser's cookies in the process. The play quickly becoming a laughingstock to the audience. Keri instructs the actors to go and skip ahead to the gingerbread scene. Keri goes to tell Gina, the Witch actress, so she knows when to come on stage, but instead finds a trail of cookie crumbs. Keri is suspicious, and she follows it to a storeroom backstage and finds Jesse, Rayline, and Lanie inside, all three tightly bound and cleave gagged. They frantically try to yell at her but their gags muffle their words indistinct. Keri deduces that Miss Browser kidnapped them, stuffing them up with the constant cookies and treats in order to eat them, just like the evil Witch from the story. Keri says she will stop Miss Browser from eating them. They try to call out to her again, but it's more nonsense through their gags and she doesn't want to waste any time; she leaves them tied up in the closet.
Meanwhile, Gina is stretching backstage before her early entrance. Someone off screen points her hand towards her, then curls it up. Gina is curled up into a ball at the same time, her feet touching her head. A woman's voice is heard telling Gina that if she wanted tips on how to be a real witch, she should've asked her.
Onstage, Gina misses her cue. Jen yells for her, but Miss Browser comes onstage instead, dressed up as the Witch and trying to help the actors save the play. Keri bursts onto the stage and explains "Miss Browser" tied up Lanie, Jesse, and Rayline and is planning on eating all three of them. Her frantic story convinces Sam and Jen, who push her into the oven set piece, despite her protests to convey that she is innocent. After this, a tall and eerie lady in red that the kids don't know steps onstage and introduces herself as the real Witch, enraged that no one who has put on the play will tell her real story. Now addressing the audience, the curtain falls; the witch does a few hand gestures, and when the curtain rises, all the kids are onstage tied up back-to-back and apple-gagged. The oven set piece flames full with real fire. Hansel and Gretel are forced through magic to sing their feature song, with the lyrics changed to be about their current predicament and apparently manipulated by the witch herself. The flames blaze brighter and the curtain falls a final time. The witch slams shut the school and auditorium doors, trapping the audience inside, explaining that she's only cursed the productions as a revenge for no one telling her real story: she didn't kill Hansel and Gretel, she killed their parents instead. She then turns off the lights as the audiences begins to scream in terror.
Cast[]
- Jianna Ballard as Jen as Gretel
- Rowen Kahn as Sam as Hansel
- Jennifer Copping as Ms. Brower
- Avery Konrad as Gina the Witch
- Brittney Wilson as Rayline
- Heather-Claire Nortey as Keri
- Britt McKillip as Michelle the Tree
- MacKenzie Porter as Lanie
- Sebastian Sevallo as Jesse
- Ellie Harvie as The Witch
- Allie Bertram as Moon
Trivia[]
- Writer Erik Patterson said that parts of this episode were inspired by his and Jessica's teen years when they were doing drama in high school.
- Britt McKillip, who played Michelle the tree, was also Princess Cadance in My Little Pony Friendship, which aired on the same network. She previously was in an episode of Night Visions, another show created by Billy Brown and Dan Angel.
- When the Witch was performing magic trick when the curtains are down one of the sounds came from Mario when the sound was Mario going in a pipe.
Video(s)[]
No Videos