 Interactive murder mystery still slays audiences April 28, 2008 RICHARD OUZOUNIAN THEATRE CRITIC ________________________________________ Dancing With Stars Can Be Murder! By Brian Caws, Ken MacDougall, Jean Daigle. Directed by Jean Daigle. Open-ended run at 2026 Yonge St. 1-800-NOT-DEAD Variety is the spice of life. That's a good rule for dinner, a better one for theatre and it's best of all for dinner theatres. That's why Dancing With Stars Can Be Murder! is a particularly tasty piece of entertainment. The Mysteriously Yours gang have been plying their trade successfully for more than 20 years, with their own brand of interactive murder mysteries, in which a cast of wacky characters circulate through the audience during dinner. Just before dessert, one gets killed, a detective appears and everyone (including the audience) sets out to solve the case. As a theatrical format, it's like elasticized-waist pants: capable of holding anything (within reason). But over the last little while, things had gotten a bit stale. The overwhelming sense was one of "been there, done that, got the caesar salad." I'm happy to report that fresh new ideas and people are buzzing around the theatre at Yonge near Davisville, and their current production is one of their cleverest and funniest in recent memory. Diehard fans of the genre, fear not: the basic premise is the same. Yes, you'll get to see the excellent Jean Daigle do his usual double-turn as a loathsome victim who quickly changes after death into a savvy detective. In this case, he starts as a washed-up Vegas singer named Shayne Newton, who's appearing on a cheesy reality TV show called Dancing With Stars. With a pompadour so grotesquely vertical, it looks like it took Viagra to induce, his egotistical Newton cries out to be murdered and, mercifully, he soon is. Before you know it, Daigle's back in a tacky Hawaiian shirt, clutching a cigar and announcing that he's Tony Gandolfony, formerly of The Sopranos and now rehearsing for a new show called CSI: New Jersey. All of this is consoling for those who feel there's already too much change in the universe. But producers Brian and Lili Caws and their clever crew have taken things a few steps further, with some hilarious dance numbers. (If you're feeling blue, I suggest that Daigle doing his version of Riverdance will cheer you right up.) You'll enjoy the work of veteran cast members Laurence Prance (droll as the bitchy judge Bruno), Marc Candler (a hoot as the perpetually out-of-breath mambo contestant Ryan Seafoam) and Ken MacDougall (the oleaginously greasy host Jimmy Kibble). But there are two new faces giving things a real lift. Nicole Hapke is delicious as a ramrod-spined Russian ballerina who's studied intensively at the Bebe Neuwirth School of Disdain and Stephanie West is a hoot as the all-purpose dimwit starlet, Mary Kate Lohanspears. And as a final note, there's a new chef in the kitchen, Therese de Grace, who delivers some amazingly complex dishes as part of the three-course dinner menu. You'll eat well, you'll laugh heartily and you'll only have to park the car once. That's my definition of a fun night out. |
All singing, all dancing, all shooting.
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 Click for .pdf version March 19, 2005. Mysterious success is elementary, dear Watson ROBERT
CREW There's nothing very mysterious about the longevity of the Mysteriously Yours franchise. It provides excellent food and lighthearted entertainment, both dished up with considerable élan. Elementary, my dear Watson. Which just happens to be the punch-line to one of the dozens of jokes that fly during the latest show at the Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre (2026 Yonge St.). Reveal the rest of the joke? Not me. The show is called CSI: Baker Street and the situation is this: We've been invited to a book launch. A flamboyant, cigar-chewing publisher named Harper Collier is about to publish Watson's latest book, which is apparently dynamite, with all sorts of lurid details that blacken the character of each and every possible suspect. Collier drops dead before our very eyes, having just sipped a drink that passed along a line of various people. Everyone has a motive. Everyone had the opportunity. Whodunit? Was it Watson himself? Or perhaps it was his devoted housekeeper Mrs. Hudson, who refers to Watson as Big John, for some reason or other. Inspector Gilbert Grissom Lestrade handled the poisoned drink. But so did Irene Adler, the mysterious woman who once got the better of the great Holmes himself. Then there's the delightfully loony Dr. Jerry, an expert on hypnosis. It's all lots of fun, complete with a couple of naughty songs and much willing and joyful audience participation. One guy did a mock striptease, rather well. Another, who had apparently swallowed a 10-pound note, was asked how he was. "No change yet," came the well-rehearsed reply. No one is better at this kind of interactive theatre than Jean Daigle, who plays Holmes (and also directed and co-wrote the show). He's been doing this for years and it shows in the way he handles every situation adroitly and with abundant humour. The rest of the cast — Laurence Prance, Scotty Watson, Blaine Parker, Barb Scheffler and Anne Marie Scheffler, plus pianist Rommel Reyes — are no slouches either. Without exception, they have the gift of getting an audience member to join in, even make a little bit of a fool of him/herself, but without any trace of mockery or embarrassment. We all laugh with someone, not at them. There's a choice of five main courses, including chicken, lamb, beef, salmon and vegetarian risotto dishes, plus daily specials. Starring in the kitchen is executive chef Av Atikian. Okay, maybe I will tell you the joke. After all, there are many more where this came from. "This woman is a schoolteacher." "What sort?" "Elementary,
my dear Watson." |
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RICHARD
OUZOUNIAN I think it was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick. If that sentence makes sense to you, then you're likely to be an aficionado of the board game, Clue, where colourfully named suspects commit Agatha Christie-esque acts of mayhem and it's up to you figure out whodunit (not to mention wheredunit and howdunit as well). Continuing this chain of thought, if you're a fan of Clue, then you're even more likely to enjoy the latest offering from Mysteriously Yours, called A Clue To Murder. If you've never been to one their shows, this would be a good time to introduce you to the kind of work this amiable company has been doing for nearly 20 years. Their formula is a unique mixture of conventional dinner theatre and the interactive murder-mystery genre that still enjoys a certain level of popularity. You go down the stairs on Yonge St., just north of Davisville, to a subterranean nightspot that looks like the nicest, cleanest speakeasy in existence — the Cotton Club after the Designer Guys got through with it. You sit down at comfortable tables and enjoy the attentions of a friendly staff (especially if you're lucky enough to get the delightful Alice). No catch-as-catch-can buffet here, you order your three-course dinner off a menu filled with appealing choices. (For the record, I very much enjoyed the seared sea-scallops, the braised lamb shank with vegetable gratin and the pumpkin cheesecake). Just as you're finishing dessert, you start to see some flamboyantly dressed figures working their way through the room, stopping to talk to you. And so the mystery begins. Brian Caws is the mastermind behind this organization and I always marvel at how smoothly things run here. Before you know it, you've met the five major suspects. Then the murder occurs (always discreetly offstage), the detective arrives, and you start helping to solve things as you enjoy your coffee and a digestif. The mystery this time around is a bit more intricately plotted than most and you'll really have to be on your toes to pick up all of the clues that hurtle by you. It's also hard to remember you have to concentrate on serious sleuthing when there are so many deliciously broad comic characterizations swirling around. On this particular outing, Scotty Watson is the most outrageous as the plus-sized maid, Blanche Boyle, polishing everything (and everybody) in sight. Lawrence Prance's lilac-clad, manic Professor Prune is a close second, and Barb Scheffler's voluptuous lounge singer, Cerise Rouge, also keeps the merriment flowing. On the more subtle side (but don't ever tell them I said so) are Blaine Parker as the phlegmatic Colonel Dijon and Birgitte Solem as the steely eyed widow, Frau Blau. As usual,
Jean Daigle is the detective who
keeps everything gliding along. This time around, he
plays the dapper Hercule Perrier, with a twinkle in his eye that never
fails. No, it's not great theatre; it doesn't try to be. But it is a perfectly enjoyable way to spend an evening and with prices that range from $75 through $80 for the whole package, it's still a considerable bargain. Best of all, you only have to park your car once. Whodunit? Well, I'm please to tell you that I guessed the actual murderer, but missed out on the location and the weapon. Pay
them a visit and see if you can succeed where I failed. |
(out of 4)
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feel free to call for details and/or reservations. If you don't see the Navigation Frame to the left, go to: Full Web Site Mysteriously Yours... Dinner Theatre! 2026 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4S 1Z9 Phone: (416) 486-7469 or 1-800-NOT-DEAD (668-3323) E-mail: info@MysteriouslyYours.com |