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FAIRMONT-- The Red Rock Center for the Arts is preparing for its 12th annual murder mystery dinner which will be performed on April 14 and April 15.
The event will also feature a silent auction. Tickets for the event have already sold out weeks in advance.
Like in previous years, the show is written and directed by Paul Warshauer. His production company is Murders 4 Fun. The storyline has been specially tailored to the Fairmont area and will only be performed this weekend. Warshauer has been producing murder mysteries since 1991 and has orchestrated murder mysteries at the Red Rock since their inception. Warshauer said he's produced shows in all 50 states and noted this show would be his 467th production.
This year's murder mystery involves a plan developed by a Welcome mob boss to demolish the Red Rock Center and build a 13 story building on the site which would provide hotel rooms for tourists and apartments for seniors. The mayor has mixed feelings about the development while her assistant is strongly against it. Other characters include a reporter who wants to come away with a big story and an ambitious architect who is eager for a commission.
Every member of the cast comes from the Fairmont area. Georgie Pfaffinger plays the mayor in this year's production, a recurring role she's held for three previous events
"She is torn between the two ideas; one would be good for the community because it would bring more people in but we also have to endorse the arts and have that side of the town prosper, too," said Pfaffinger.
Pfaffinger has acted in almost every murder mystery to be held at the Red Rock. She said she's consistently returned to the murder mystery productions because she enjoys the performance and working with her fellow cast members.
"They are fun and we get to put our own personality into the characters,"she said.
Warshauer said not even the cast will know who committed the crime and who the victim will be until later this week, but noted solving a murder mystery requires successfully identifying a handful of key elements; the weapon, the murderer, the motive and the opportunity for the murder.
"The how is the tough one ... how did the murderer get the opportunity to kill the victim," said Warshauer.
The mystery itself will be split into three acts over the course of the dinner. At the start of the show Warshauer will introduce the characters which will be followed by the first course of the meal. After this has been completed the characters will begin to intermingle and the characters will begin to reveal clues which could indicate who could be killed and why. This phase of the event is followed by another course. Once this course has been served the murder will be announced and guests will have a chance to cross examine the characters and try to determine who the murderer is.
"(Cross examination) is the most fun part of the show because the audience literally raises their hands and says 'hey, mayor, where were you at the time of the murder or 'you were the assistant to the mayor, what were you going to do,'" said Warshauer.
After cross examination is completed each table gets to guess who they think the murderer is at which point the victim will appear and explain the circumstances of their death. Those who guess correctly will receive a novelty prize. Separate variants of the story will be performed on each night so that Saturday's attendees will not know the killer or the victim.