For something different we went to a local community theater production at Playhouse Events & Dinner Theater.   Murder on the Oriental Rug by Marylou Ambrose and Tony Schwartz was the theater presentation for this month.  There are two options if you are interested in attending – dinner and the show or just the show.  We opted for just the show and arrived a few minutes before the 6:30 opening of the house.  The cast (in character) circulated through the audience prior to the 7:00 start time.  A note of caution – be careful where you sit as the show is performed more in the house than on the stage and you might be pulled into the action once the show starts.  But it is all in fun and no blood was spilled (at least not the night we attended.)

Murder on the Oriental Rug —  Dinner Theater for February

The premise of the play is twofold.  First, there is a cast that is preparing a show for production on the road prior to hopefully taking it to Broadway.  In this part of the show we see the pain and agony of casting and preparing a show for performance plus the unbridled back-stage egos of actors.  The pain and agony comes because half the cast quit which forces the remaining members and crew to double up on roles.  (Some of that recasting goes very much against type but it is performed well!)  Egos come into play as the actors debate who will get to perform under the lights of every actor’s dream stage.

But this show also uses the very old theatre device of a play with-in a play to round out the second part of the performance.  This part of the show, often in a bawdy way, follows the scientific research of a cure for menopause.  Unfortunately, science doesn’t always have the correct answer to every problem and that gives us the plot of the play within the play.

When the foul deed is done and not all ends well, you will be asked to determine who is guilty and who is innocent.  Bring your sleuthing hat and take notes during the show because everyone is expected to be able to guess the who, how and why of the murder.  The night we attended a gift card to be used for future shows was given to the winner. (There are extra points awarded for creativity so be more like Sherlock Holmes than Barney Fife when trying to solve the crime.)

Performance

There were several very good performances from the cast.  Chris Mayse did an outstanding job in his three totally dissimilar and against type roles for this show and Jessica Ellis also handled multiple roles well.  Hats off to Erik Shields for playing through the pain of an injury.  The rest of the cast rounded out the performance well to bring this amusing story to life.

Adventure Grammy Recap

A fun evening out with options to do dinner, drinks or just enjoy the show.  I would recommend reviewing the show prior to attending to make sure it is family friendly if you are thinking of taking the kids.  You never know what to expect, so expect the unexpected.  You could be part of the show or maybe the actors will just sit down at your table for a chat.  All good fun and makes for a unique experience.