Gloria Swansong is an aging actress poised to make a comeback onto the big screen. But you don’t become a celebrity without making some enemies, and somebody among a short list of suspects is willing to kill to prevent her comeback.
“It’s the first mystery we ever did,” said Bud Walters, owner of The Whodunit? Players theatrical company based in Cincinnati. “And it’s still popular after all these years.”
The Whodunit? Players are a local troupe that Walters founded 17 years ago.
“I’ve been an actor forever,” he said. “I’ve toured with professional theater, did community theater, commercials, but I reached a point where I didn’t want to do that anymore. I’d done murder mysteries before with others, so I decided to start my own company.”
Over the years, Whodunit? has built up a repertoire of 15 mysteries ready to go at any one time, which they perform at various restaurants, country clubs, corporate events and other venues.
“We’ve been successful, though success is a state of mind,” Walters said. “We’re not trying to be the biggest company in the world.”
For “Lights … Camera … Murder!,” as people sit at their tables, the cast will mingle, giving out clues and a solution sheet to write down whodunit and why. Walters said that beyond the basic storyline and the identity of the murderer himself, it’s a different show every time.
“We’re an improv group,” he said. “We’re not a stage show. We’re always moving around the audience and getting them involved. Our characters are really bizarre. It’s not completely blue, but it’s definitely adult. A gay character will sit in a man’s lap and sing to him, a nun will go around to the women to make sure their skirts are touching the floor, there’s a coroner who’s an underwear model. It’s zany. The best way I can describe is it’s like watching ‘The Carol Burnett Show.’ ”
Walters said people that solve the mystery best receive goodie bags, pop, popcorn buckets and candy.
“There are consolation prizes, too,” he said. “But not everyone’s a winner.”
How to go
What: “Lights … Camera … Murder!”
Where: Ronald Reagan Lodge, 7850 VOA Park Drive, West Chester
When: 5-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21
Cost: $35
More info: 513-867-5835 or www.yourmetroparks.net or www.whodunitplayers.com
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