Jesus carried a human cross across the stage. Alice performed a color guard with The Mad Hatter. But it was zombies who stole the show.

As they took center stage at the Frauenthal last Thursday during Showcase to perform a dance titled "RamaLamaBangBang" inspired by So You Think You Can Dance, it was difficult to recognize sophomore Ragen Cooper, juniors Megan Boerema, Trevor Boukamp, and Katie DeBruin and seniors Kendal Brown, Rachel Miller, Cody Munford, Kiron O’Brien, Carlin Rollenhagen, and Shea Wilcox.

Beneath the dark eyeliner and torn attire, though, were 10 choir students waiting to prove that the best is always saved for last.

"We had to be the best," DeBruin said. "You can’t be the last act and be bad, and there were so many good acts before us. I was definitely nervous (before we went on). We worked so hard for this, and when it was our turn to go, we had to make it happen."

O’Brien said he also felt the nerves before entering the stage.

"I was for sure nervous, but I was more excited than anything," O’Brien said. "It’s my senior year, so I had to leave it all on stage and give it my everything. We needed to kill it."

After they had performed, the judges felt the Shores students had "killed it;" the crowd went wild, and "RamaLamaBangBang" was awarded first place.

"I screamed," Cooper said. "I’d never won anything like this before, and when our names were called, it just felt so good knowing all the hard work we put into our makeup, hair, costumes, and practice had been recognized."

The zombies, though, were not the only Shores award winners; junior Abigail Wilson won third place for her 3-Dimensional oil pastel painting titled "Crossings."

"Winning the award wasn’t that big of a deal for me," Wilson said. "For me, the best part was having the chance to stand back quietly and watch people’s reaction to and interest in my work.

Other Shores nominees included senior Amber Young for Academic Achievement, seniors Sydney Tharp and Nick Hendricks for Athletic Achievement, senior Clarisse Wilson for Literary Arts, and juniors Samantha Andrade and Gabby Schaub for a duet.

But it was the zombies that stole the show.

"The hardest part of this was getting into character," DeBruin said. "We had to make ourselves creepy, but we had to look graceful. A big part of dancing is being able to play the genre you’re in."

For others who aspire to trudge across the stage as a zombie or create a visually beautiful piece for Showcase, Abigail Wilson has some words of advice.

"Start early, think big, and try to find a new perspective," she said. "That’s what people like to see, whether it’s a comedic piano solo, a strange mesmerizing style of dance, or a new perspective on visual art."