Agatha's Mystery Theater in Atlanta has been around for maybe 30 years and I've never darkened their door. I wasn't against it, I just didn't see it as theater or entertainment that I was interested in.
I wouldn't have gone to Sherlock's Mystery Dinner Theater if I hadn't felt compelled to cover all the professional theaters in town. And I would have missed an entertaining night. The current show, "Murder, Take Two" is an original production written by the theater's artistic directors, Kate and JJ Musgrove. As you might expect, it relies heavily on old jokes and riffs on old movies and even older Hollywood actors.
The concept is that some members of the audience are given parts with short scripts to read when t
heir time comes and, to my surprise, it actually works. "Murder, Take Two" uses two professional actors in half a dozen parts and maybe ten members of the audience. Although the Musgroves' intentions are to hire actors for the professional parts, JJ is playing the male parts in this production because the actor they had hired didn't work out. Haley Rice, who has a strong acting resume, is playing the female parts.
heir time comes and, to my surprise, it actually works. "Murder, Take Two" uses two professional actors in half a dozen parts and maybe ten members of the audience. Although the Musgroves' intentions are to hire actors for the professional parts, JJ is playing the male parts in this production because the actor they had hired didn't work out. Haley Rice, who has a strong acting resume, is playing the female parts.The good news about this is that both Haley and JJ are excellent actors and, even though this is not about drama, they do draw you in. Haley defines the dumb blond and JJ knows how to perfectly play off her.
The play itself is a piece of fluff about Hollywood folks visiting a director who's casting a new movie when there's a murder. A detective is called in to question both audience members playing parts and characters created by Haley and JJ. At the end of the production, audience members are invited to guess who the culprit is.
The play is produced in acts between courses of dinner served by the Marriott. The meal varies by week so you can pick a night when you like the courses. Our meal was about what you'd expect at a Shriner's banquet.
The next show is "Spy Games" beginning May 8 and I'm thinking I need to be sure they're still on their game.
1 comment:
Once again, kudos must be given to the blogger for attending alternative or niche theatres in the area of Columbus.
I played the male actor in this production not because our initial actor "didn't work out" but because of a decision made in the process regarding the treatment of the particular roles that Kate and I had crafted for this play. In another play, with different roles, the actor that we had originally contracted would "work out" just fine, so the "commentor" of this should be a bit more careful at word usage regarding internal matters of any given company.
It is odd how the audience parts "work out". You wouldn't think that it would make for a successful entertaining evening, but it does. As a matter of fact, this particular type of niche theatre depends on the audience to get into their roles and allow the main actors to "guide the action" of the play throughout the evening. There is so much that can be taken, altered, adhered to, and compensated from the pace, the rhythm, the energy of the audience and particularly those who have parts.
Once again, the comments are, for the most part, fair, if not a bit vague as far as the bloggers experience of the evening. What was particularly good? What stood out as not good? What didn't work? What part of the show did the rhythm seem a bit off or what really connected? How did the actors craft the roles and interact with the audience or not? Good questions to get answers from.
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