ST. GEORGE –Murder Mystery Theater returns this Friday for a spooky evening to benefit the Washington County Children’s Justice Center.
For four years now, motley crews of local actors have donated their time and talents to form the Murder Mystery Theater for a night of laughs and surprises. Last year, the group presented an interactive dinner theater experience to their audience that had a cruise-theme to it.
This year the performance is based around the fictitious grand reopening of the Mouldering Pines Inn, which just happens to be hosting the annual Boogeyman Outreach Organization Conference.
The Bell Tower, 1386 E 100 South in St. George, will be the setting for the Mouldering Pines Inn.
Attendees to the BOO Conference will be greeted by an eccentric cast of characters, including Madame Zelda Von Spookum, the chairwoman of BOO, who has a sweet tooth for Girl Scout Cookies. They will also run into the domineering owner of the Mouldering Pines Inn, reigning Uno champion Phyllis Lodge, and her henpecked husband, Jim, who has a taste for tuna fish and cheese.
Other colorful characters include a mental hospital’s former artist-in-residence; an absentminded professor of the paranormal, a quiet and cryptic gardener who came with the inn, and two members of BOO’s Washington, D.C., chapter named Dana Scullery and Fox Smolder.
Of the characters, Emily Holt, the production’s assistant director, said they are “very relatable and very funny.”
At some point in the evening, one of these eccentric individuals will end up dead, it will ultimately be left to the audience to vote on who the murderer is.
Various activities will take place throughout the evening, including a silent auction and opportunity drawings for items provided by local businesses. Light refreshments will also be served.
The Washington County Children’s Justice Center
“Money raised goes straight to the costs of keeping the (Washington County Children’s Justice Center) open,” Holt said.
Holt, who has also been involved in fundraising for the WCCJC for many years, said the center provides a valuable service.
Founded in St. George in 1997, the mission of the nonprofit WCCJC is to provide a safe and stable environment for children who are involved in physical and sexual abuse. Often, when a child is victimized, he or she is shuffled between different places and agencies and subjected to being interviewed multiple times by different people. The WCCJC is able to take the multiple agencies involved in investigating such crimes and put under one roof in a home-like facility.
The facility itself, which resembles a large home inside and out, is designed to help children feel safe and comfortable while dealing with the frightening and traumatic circumstances that have befallen them.
“We want to see community support and would like to have a full house,” Holt said. “We’re very close and there are limited seats.”
Yet some seats remain for Friday night’s show. So call and make a reservation for an evening full of fun and surprises.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the WCCJW may do so at the center’s website.
Event details:
The performance of the Murder Mystery Theater will be held at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 3, at The Bell Tower, 1386 E 100 South, St. George. Tickets to the event are $10 per person. For reservations, call 435-634-1134. Reservations are recommended.
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