ESTEVAN - East Side Story – a '50s murder mystery party – will take guests on a festive and exciting adventure on April 12.
The Souris Valley Theatre is running the new artistic fundraiser in partnership with Kingston Midstream. The event will take place at Granby's restaurant at the Days Inn Estevan, with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. and the main event starting at 7 p.m.
East Side Story: A '50s Murder Mystery Party will have a local, live cast performing throughout the night. Guests will also be treated to supper.
"We wanted to do another fundraiser, just to help us out with our season this summer," said board president Allison Holzer. "We're able to partner with Granby's, they've got a nice restaurant that would really help with the atmosphere for the play, and it's intimate enough. So, we're looking forward to it. It's going to be pretty cool."
Holzer said she's experienced similar performances, and the board supported the idea of bringing it to Estevan.
The cast involves eight local actors, including Cheri Haberstock, Jillian Connelly, Bethany Dittmann, Laura O'Hanlon, Kyle Whitehead, James Dobos, Stephen Froese and Patrick Dupuis.
"We had a couple of rehearsals already, and we've had so much fun. It's not scripted, a lot of it is improv. We're just getting some basic details that we have to include and incorporate into conversations," Holzer explained.
"We're going to have mics on all of the characters so that everybody in the room can overhear their conversations. And we're going to find out, what their thoughts are, and what their motivations are, and eventually, someone is going to turn up dead."
Guests will be a part of finding the murderer throughout the night, through learning more about the characters and receiving some clues and evidence.
"There will be a prize for the person in the audience who guessed [the murderer]. We'll put all the guesses in a hat, and the person that we pull out that has the right answer will receive a prize," Holzer said.
Actors will be mingling around, talking to people in the audience, asking their opinions and trying to draw them in.
Money raised will help the local theatre with its seasonal operations and upgrades. Holzer noted they did several major upgrades last year, and are taking it easier this year, but there is still some work to be done.
"We do have to replace our lighting in the theatre, we're switching over to LED bulbs, which will suck less power and produce less heat. But that will also mean replacing our fixtures because most of our actual fixtures that the light bulbs go into are obsolete. So, changing to LED is quite expensive up front, but it'll save us money in the long run," Holzer said.
People are encouraged to dress in '50s attire to make it even more fun.
"We're really looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be very entertaining. The characters that we have acting are hilarious," Holzer said.
Tickets are $75 each and include a $25 donation receipt. To get tickets, please, call 306-461-6869. Capacity is limited to 84 seats.
"If people want tickets, they should get them right away, because they are limited and we're only doing one performance," Holzer said.
Holzer added that this season they will do two musicals and both will be based around the 50s theme.
