East CTA students collaborate for dinner and theatre show
A beloved tradition at East Career and Technical Academy returns for the first time in four years. This year, the school will once again host a Murder Mystery Party from Feb. 29 to Mar. 1.
The show is a collaboration between students in different Magnet programs and extracurricular clubs which include theatre, marketing and hospitality, culinary arts, graphic design as well as construction technology. East Tech Theatre teacher Carrie Vlaming directs and coordinates students and staff involved in the production.
While her theatre students perform the show, the hospitality students will serve dinner to audience members prepared by the culinary arts students. Behind the scenes, students in construction technology built the set and graphic design students created a logo and flyer to promote the sold-out show. Students have been preparing for the show since November.
“When we first opened East Tech, this was part of the original vision of the school and it was a hit,” Mrs. Vlaming said. “From that, we’ve traditionally done a murder mystery and then a children’s show that incorporates with food for all the years that I’ve been here until 2020, and then COVID shut down the dinner show.”
Chef Yosvani Gomez, a culinary arts instructor, and his students designed a special menu inspired by the elegance of the show’s setting in a luxurious mansion.
Appetizer
- Deviled eggs
- Truffle bellini
- Caprese salad skewer
Entrée
- Beef bourguignon
- Mushroom risotto
Dessert
- Swirl strawberry cheesecake
- Opera cake
- Crème brûlée
All dishes are made fresh from scratch and in-house by East Tech culinary students.
“The majority of my experience out on the Strip is in fine-dining establishments,” Chef Gomez said. “I’m bringing that back and replicating it here at the high school level. Everything that my students are going to be doing in this kitchen are things that will immediately translate and can actually use in actual facilities and kitchens everywhere up and down the Strip.”
An East Tech graduate himself, Chef Gomez was once part of the same show as a student in 2019 with Mrs. Vlaming as the director.
The dinner show allows students to experience a workplace setting where they can practice their skills and work alongside other departments.