Minden students win laughs with play

A sinister conspiracy takes the North Pole. Santa Claus goes missing, and Christmas is in danger.

This was the script that Minden Elementary teacher Dawn Caldwell-Rothfusz wrote for her sixth-graders to perform this week.

"This has been a tradition of mine for the last 15 years," said Caldwell-Rothfusz. "I try to do something different every year, but I make sure every student has a role."

On Wednesday, students performed "The Mystery of the Missing Claus" for the last time in front of four other classes.

"We've been working on this play for a while," said Michael Reeves, who plays Dasher the reindeer. "I've gotten better. This should be my best performance."

Jarret Preston said he would provide the comic relief, playing investigator He's-a-Dope.

"I want to make them laugh and get them in the holiday spirit," he said.

The play started with narrator Hannah Colbert telling the audience to have fun.

"This is a comedy. Please laugh," she said. "You might dance, too."

In the first scene, Santa Claus, played by Patrick Adams, told his reindeer, elves and cafeteria staff they'd be working extra hours for Christmas.

"I hope we get paid extra," Blitzen snapped, played by Jackie Johnson.

In the next scene, Santa went missing. Mrs. Claus, played by Kathy Nunez, tried her husband's cell phone but got no response. Investigator He's-a-Dope arrived on the scene.

"Can you describe the suspect?" the investigator asked.

"He has a long white beard. He's 300 pounds and wears a red suit," Mrs. Claus said.

"Then sounds like we're looking for a 300-pound dog," He's-a-Dope replied, sending a rumble of laughter through the audience.

The investigator interviewed elves and cafeteria workers about the suspicious disappearance of rope and a blindfold from the toy workshop and food from the kitchen.

"I think it was aliens," said one elf.

But two elves, played by Kody Wilson and Marc Reyes, decided to dress up as women and go undercover, eventually finding Santa tied up and blindfolded in a barn. Four disgruntled reindeer had kidnapped him. The elves hid as the reindeer returned to the barn.

Rudolph, played by Daisy Gudino, expressed remorse about the crime.

"Suck it up!" Blitzen told her. "We can dump him off a cliff or ship him in a crate to Hawaii."

But the elves called Mrs. Claus, and the reindeer's sinister plot was foiled.

"I was sick of flying in snow storms every Christmas," Blitzen said as she was being arrested. "Does anyone think of the reindeer? All we get for our work is a song here and a TV show there."

The play ended with the four reindeer incarcerated, and "Jail House Rock" playing in the background. The cast invited the audience to dance, and soon everybody, including teachers and principal Ken Stoll, was bogeying down in the holiday spirit.