When I was invited to try The Murder Mystery Company‘s dinner show in Nashville, I knew I had to be there. As I acted in plays from middle school through college and have traveled to New York often just to see Broadway shows, my love for theatre runs deep. However, I had never experienced dinner theatre or interactive theatre, so this was something brand new for me – and for H, who came along. The company hosts shows at The Old Spaghetti Factory downtown, where we headed this past Friday night for our mysterious experience.
As soon as we walked in, we were in it. The show we attended was wedding-themed, and the actress playing the maid of honor greeted us as though we were wedding attendees. Everyone is in character from the get-go, and you just go right along with it. She gave us props for the photo booth, and since we had VIP tickets, we got to take home our photos and our “mug shot.”
The “best man” of the wedding sat us at our table, and already, the actors were walking around and interacting with everyone. We jumped right in to congratulate the bride (total bridezilla) and laugh with the wedding singer. As people were arriving, the actors started picking audience members to be suspects in the mystery. A man sitting at our table ended up as the groom, and he received a binder with important information for us to learn about his character. As soon as the show started (and the “wedding” commenced), the actors comically staged a murder, and then we were introduced to all the suspects. Some of these were company actors, and some were from the audience. Everyone was quite the character, with strong personality traits and funny quirks.
Essentially, the people sitting at each table are teammates. It is up to the group to figure out who committed the crime as well as how they did it and their motive for doing so. You do this in two ways: by listening to the suspects as they slowly reveal clues about themselves to the whole group over the evening, and then by getting out of your seat to talk to the suspects. You have fake money with which to bribe the suspects into giving you information.
The show is silly, boisterous, and tongue-in-cheek. The bride urged the audience to give a more dramatic gasp when the murder occurred, and, in true bridezilla mode, would yell at us to move faster when it was time to mingle and interrogate. Once the detective appeared at the wedding (which coincided with the servers delivering our main dish), he looked at us in disgust as we sat and ate calmly during the murder investigation.
The show does contain some vulgarity and mature language, and so, I would recommend it for adults only (though there were a few teens present with their families). That being said, H and I laughed out loud throughout the whole thing. It was truly hilarious but also smartly constructed – by the end, we were not quite sure of the murderer, but the couple at our table had figured it out!
The show was well-planned and fun. It would be a perfect outing with a bigger group (there were a few birthday parties present). Just be prepared to jump right in and brush up on your acting skills – or at least be willing to interact. This is not a sit-and-watch kind of show, but a Clue-style dine-and-socialize experience. Go dressed up in theme if you wish, and get ready to dive in for two hours of drama, problem solving, and laughs.
For more information on attending a dinner show, or on hosting a private mystery party:
The Murder Mystery Co. (nationwide)
That sounds so fun! First of all, I love the Old Spaghetti Factory! We did a murder mystery NYE party last year, so this is right up my alley!