Written by Ben Cox – The theater department of Victory Life Academy is preparing for it’s spring show, “Murder’s in the Heir.” This show will be a departure from previous spring shows because rather than doing a musical, this show is an interactive murder mystery.
The show opens Friday the 20th with a dinner theater that night, which will be catered by Prima Pasta at 6 with the performance beginning at 7:30. The two other performances will be Saturday afternoon at 2:30 and again that night at 7:30.
The play, directed by Caitlyn Tidwell, features a cast of 17 student actors who have been rehearsing since February. “It’s a murder mystery, but it’s kind of a spoofy murder mystery” according to Tidwell. “The synopsis of the show says if the game Clue were a play, it would be this play.”
While not actually based on the game, Tidwell says ”it’s the same kind of idea. Everyone has a motive, everyone has an opportunity, so whodunnit!”
The cast will interact with the audience, and for those who attend the dinner theater, some of them will actually be served by the shows servant characters.
There will be a vote during intermission for who the audience thinks is the killer, and in a twist, the character that gets the most votes will actually be the killer. Tidwell says this was a bit of a challenge, because “the characters have to learn all the possible endings.”
Sponsorship tables for the dinner are available for $500 for Silver level or $1000 for gold level. Special perks are available to gold and silver level sponsors, including special desserts and interactions with the cast.
The price for tickets are $35 per person for the dinner theater, and $15 for adults and $10 for students for the other two shows.
Tidwell is proud of the work done by her students and thanks them for their dedication. 2018 marks Tidwell’s fifth year teaching the theater program for Victory Life Academy.
Permission for VLA to produce the show was granted by Pioneer Drama.
