by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
“These neighbors are getting together to decorate their community for the holidays, especially because there is a magazine that would like to do a photo essay on it, and they are all trying to one-up each other, as I think most neighborhoods are used to doing, and of course it gets a little rough and one of the neighbors ends up dead.”
Sounds like your traditional holiday story, right? Well, it does to Scott Smith, the director of a local Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre.
Jacksonville Murder Mystery Players are not an entirely new phenomenon, but they are probably a new experience for you. Since 1987 the Murder Mystery Players have been doing their interactive performances at various venues around the country, from restaurant environments to corporate events. In Jacksonville the Murder Mystery Players have been holding their performances year-round at our local Dave & Busters on the Southside.
“It’s not your typical theatre crowd, it is more for people looking for a unique interactive experience.”
This holiday season you can find this creative group of professional improvisational actors performing their holiday murder mystery not only for you, but with you. Where better to enjoy interactive play than at Dave & Busters, a venue known for video games and great parties. The Dave & Busters Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre is presented at the showroom inside the Dave & Busters facility.
“Each venue is unique, and the cast draws on the people that happen to be in attendance. Each show is different based on what the audience has to offer.”
A reservations-only event, the show includes a three course dinner and dessert that you are free to enjoy during the performance, all for less than $40. But don’t let your delicious meal keep you out of the action because these players are best at entertaining audiences that are into having a good time and participating in the action.
“We can do the whole show without any interaction, but the fun really comes from people participating. Each night that we perform the show is slightly different. We’ve got some improv we do where we’ll call one or two people from the audience to do a little bit and sometimes we’ll get the whole group to join in. We’ve had a whole room on calisthenics, we’ve sung various familiar songs that everyone knows and we’ll probably do some Christmas carols on this one. I’m sure its going to happen. But since it is improvisational, it’s hard to determine what the interactive component will be each night.”
These are professional actors from around Florida. Faces you have seen in local theatres, films, commercials, television productions. But the nature of this intimate setting let’s you get up close and personal with the performers.
“The performances are done among the audiences instead of on a stage.”
Make your reservations today by contacting Dave & Busters at (904)-296-1525 and select the meal you will want. The show starts at 8 pm, but the doors to the showroom open at 7, so feel free to get their early and enjoy a drink at the bar or play a couple of games of skee ball.
“The shows last one and half to two hours. The more an audience participates the longer the show will be, but we generally try to keep it under two hours.”
In addition to their performances at Dave & Busters, you can book the Murder Mystery Players for your private party, corporate event, or team-building exercise. Their original brand of theatre is not only interactive with the audience, but it is also customizable. Let the audience write the script, have a live game show, or just give the troupe an idea and let them run with it.
From informative training examples to downright hysterical improvisational performances, these events are on the level of a more advanced city and in league with other interactive activities that are growing more popular as crowds grow bored with the same old thing. Not only is this a terrific unique date, but it also is part of a trend that is steadily becoming more popular across the globe.
So whether you’re at Professor Plum’s Playhouse on the Westside trying to solve the whodunit or at Dave & Busters getting inside of the improvisational comedy, get in on this trend and enjoy something even more exciting than karaoke. To book an event with the Murder Mystery Players go to www.mysteryplayers.com
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