Mystery Tours (and Mystery Dinners)
The Mystery Tour (or Mystery Dinners) are credited to an idea developed by Christopher Owens after assuming the position as Wayside’s Artistic Director in 1987. However, prior to moving to Middletown, Owens and his wife, Tamara Johnson, served as “producer/directors of their company, Mystery Incaperated, that produced audience participation Murder Mysteries for hotels and private parties” in Texas. (Playbill. 1986). It was a natural to transfer this idea to Virginia for the purpose of entertainment as well as fundraising for the Theatre. These events used a small cast of actors, most of whom lived locally or remained for a time after the summer season closed. The mysteries were often performed as fund-raisers or were the featured entertainment for special events hosted by civic organizations, both local and within the area. Later, they were often taken on the road for one-night performances for other organizations at nearby locations.
Taking the mysteries on tour most likely stemmed from the very successful “Murder at the Inn,” a performance that, “… was a way for theater patrons who usually sit passively in their seats to enjoy a little make-believe and acting on their own” (Quillen. “Wayside Offers Killer ….” DNR. 22 Mar. 1987). This type of entertainment had been very successful in other locations, and the one scheduled for the Wayside Inn was so popular,
that an additional performance had to be added. This unique form of audience
participation theatre was devised by Wayside’s new Producing Director, Christopher
Owens, and involves the audience in solving various crimes that occur throughout
the evening … The show takes place at the Wayside Inn and includes a full buffet
dinner with wine for $35 per person.
The announcement indicates that the ticket price is a tax-deductible contribution to Wayside Theatre (Friends of the Wayside …. Apr. 1987).
The second murder mystery play took place over two weekends: Mary 18 and 19; and March 25 and 26, 1988. Although “The Homecoming” does not appear in any chronology for these mysteries, one source states that the setting for this adventure was,
In a Hollywood style atmosphere, audience members are gathering at a testimonial
dinner for former local actress, Linda Renfield, now a famous rock ‘n roll star. The
chronology does show that the 1987 “Murder at the Inn” event was followed in 1988
with “The Homecoming.” The cast included: Nick Nerangis, Tod Williams, Tamara
Johnson, and Paul Pierce with Christopher Owens playing the part of “Shenandoah
Vice” detective, Michael Bartolomeo (“Wayside’s murder mysteries return.” TFRN.
9 Mar. 1988).
The 1989 mystery, entitled The Candidate, was written and performed while Owens was living in Dallas before coming to Wayside where it was repeated in Middletown. The following list of mystery productions and the year of performance has been compiled from various sources, but is not complete.
1987 – Murder at the Inn
1988 – The Homecoming
*1989 -- The Candidate
*1989 – The Deadly Diet
*1990 -- The Homecoming
1991 – Deuce or Death
*1992 - The Neptune Incident
*1992 -- Curse of the Sable Diamond
1993 – Curse of the Scottish Play
*1994 -- A Vote for Murder
1995 – The Dangerous Illusion
1997 – MUMM’s The Word (written for the 1997 season, but cancelled)
*1998 -- Wine, Women & Wodka
1999 – Roses Run Red (written, marketed, but not enough bookings to justify performances)
NOTE: (*) indicates a copy of the script is found in the Theatre files.
Depending upon where one searches for information regarding these Mystery Tours, the order for titles and years will vary. For example, the listing from one source showed a slight variation:
1990 - - A Vote for Murder
1991 - - Deuce or Death
1992 - - The Neptune Incident
1993 - - Curse of the Scottish Play
1994 - - A Vote for Murder
1995 - - Roses Run Red
There is a reference to a play entitled The Dangerous Incident that was performed in the Old Town Events Center on 7 February, 2004 for a Mystery Dinner Theatre Evening called, Death by Chocolate. However, no details have surfaced.
When asked about the titles of the plays and when they were written, Owens replied,
I don’t really have dates for some of the other Mystery scripts other than I recall
The Candidate was the very first one we did as that's one of those that I wrote
and performed in Dallas before I came to Wayside. I would guess that The
Candidate was 1989, The Homecoming 1990, The Dangerous Illusion 1991 and
The Curse of the Sable Diamond in 1992 as that is at least the order in which I
wrote them. As for Roses Run Red, I do vaguely recall it as another show we
may have marketed for tour but I don't think it ever actually got mounted (we
didn't have enough bookings to justify it). (Owens. Email. 15 Aug. 2011).
In some of the performances, members of the audience were “planted” as minor characters in these mysteries, and were most likely given some clues of a particular point they should make during the performance. One of these was the mystery for 1989, The Deadly Diet that involved horse breeding, that was set in the nearby hunt-country, and involved an elderly charity executive and his twenty-something girlfriend. A summary from 1989 correspondence states,
Our new mystery is The Deadly Diet, which involves the reunion of an old comedy
team to shoot the national commercial for a fabulous new diet product called
“Shrinkles.” The Comedy team, The Biggs Brothers, weigh 280 lbs apiece during
the height of their popularity, but now one of them has lost most of his excess
weight. Comedy and industrial espionage combine in this mystery with a cast
of eight, plus 3-4 audience “plants” (Murder Mystery …. 1989).
Comedic plots appeared in other titles: The 1992 Neptune Project dealt with a new DeLorean-type car that could drive on water; the 1993 Curse of the Scottish Play was a musical murder mystery about a backer’s audition for a new Macbeth musical; and Dangerous Illusion was about a magic show that goes awry.
A memo about the 1997 mystery, MUMM’s The Word, states that the play is set in,
… The Mumm’s Club, a notoriously wild speakeasy in the days of Prohibition,
where the cabaret show knock’s ‘em dead – literally. It is 1929, the night after
the St. Valentine’s Day massacre. Several mobsters have come here to make
new deals for Harlem bootleg as their dolls sing and dance in the club’s revue.
But, when one of the bootleggers is gunned down during a dance number, Agent
Evelyn Ness (Elliott’s cousin), stops the show and swears the audience in as
deputy FBI agents to solve the ‘whodunit.’ The audience is invited to come in
1920’s attire to help solve the mystery (Memo. January 20, 1997)
Information for the 1998 offering, Wine, Women, and Wodka,
dealt with EX-KGB Agent Karl Krosmiov (pronounced, Cross-him-off) who may
be out of a job in Moscow but is finding plenty of work as a Private Detective (a
pry-veet Deek as he calls it) here in the States. He’s on the trail of some gun
smugglers from Tennessee sending shotguns to Bosnia and a Polish lady importing
fake Smirnov vodka (or wodka as he calls it) to the US. In the meantime, he’s got problems of his own with the I.N.S. and his visa and even more problems with his
English pronunciation that seems to have inadvertent comic results. You will be
asked to sort out who did what before we play the final act and prizes go to those sleuths who “crack the case” at that time (Unknown source).
Among the Theatre’s records is a compilation of Mystery Tour performances given between 1990 – 1997 that gives the title of the play and the location as well as the organization that sponsored the performance. A copy of a contract is also in the files that tells the performance requirements of the mysteries, including dressing room space, water, payment procedures, and other details.
These mystery events were a significant part of the Owens’ years and nothing of this type continued after he left Wayside.