On October 14 and 15, actors from the Carteret Community Theatre will be performing MURDER ON THE MENU at the Culinary School at Carteret Community College. Along with a stellar performance, there will be a brilliant three course dinner, a singer, and a multimedia mystery.
The time, 1953. The place, Paris, France. The precise venue, Chez Beaujolais-the first American owned restaurant in Paris post-World War II.
The Korean War has just ended but the Cold War rages on. The guests for opening night at Chez Beaujolais: Sally Willis, the first female US Ambassador to France. Senator Winston Palmetto from the great state of North Carolina. Captain Vladimer Smirnov, Soviet Ambassador to France and nephew of Nikita Khruschev
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The two special guests are Dr. Cassandra Hawking, eminent US physicist, instrumental in the design of the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus. Sitting next to her is her love-stricken suitor, Elliot Chesson-Fitzpatrick, of the Boston Chesson-Fitzpatrick’s.
Okay, not only did I write this, but they were an actor short and now I’m playing the Russian ambassador. My accent is driving my wife crazy.
This is the third murder mystery dinner I’ve written for our local theater and the culinary school. I have a blast because I love the theater…and food…and having my characters take on a life of their own.
Unless you get a movie or television deal, how often do you get to see your story unfold before your very eyes? Hear your characters say your dialogue?
And more importantly, I get to watch the audience. I love it when they laugh at the jokes and work to try to solve the crime at the end of the evening. How many people at those tables got it right?
Sure, I can put playwright on my resume now, but I’m still learning the craft. The very first year, at the end of the first act, I had to contend with a dead body in the middle of the dining room. It’s just not fun trying to serve dinner around a corpse.
Kind of a distraction. And not easy for the poor actor portraying the stiff.
This year, I’m trying something a little different. Sure, there’s a murder, but it happens long distance. There’s no body to worry about. But what is truly different, we have a main character that’s been poisoned, and we must find who the culprit is and get the antidote in thirty minutes, or the character will die.
There will be a ticking clock on the wall. The audience will be able to see how much time is left while watching the plot unfold before them.
So, it’s a fundraiser for the culinary school at the college and for the community theater. I may sell a few books at the event, but more importantly, I have an absolute blast.
