Concordia Puts on Murder Mystery at Olde Glory Theatre
by Victoria Cameron
On Friday, Olde Glory Theatre hosted a successful opening night of “The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno,” a production including involvement from several Concordia students and staff.
While not a Concordia play, the murder mystery was directed by Concordia’s Associate Professor of Communication and Theatre Bryan Moore. In addition to training actors, he gathered students interested in being servers and ushers.
The student volunteers turned the play into dinner theater and served salad, lasagna and garlic bread, catered by Valentino’s. In return for their service, they got to watch the play for free.
“It’s really low-key and fun, and you get free food,” sophomore Hannah Watt said.
After dinner, the play began. On a stormy night, six guests are invited to Mr. Uno’s mansion, where he gives each of them an envelope containing incriminating photos and a single task. No one is willing to share their task, but the guests begin to reveal what they are being blackmailed with. The storm picks up, the lights go out, and when they come back on, Mr. Uno is dead. The guests must solve his murder, but the lights continue to go out, and every time they come back on, someone else is dead.
At intermission, the audience got to vote for who they believed the killer was. Votes were tallied, and the cast performed the endings that were most voted for. Each ending began with the last line of the previous act, which was Professor Beasley, played by junior Joseph Greenmeyer, claiming he knew who the killer was. All endings were unique and beyond what anyone would have guessed, though they were all entirely possible.
“Really pay close attention, because there’s a lot of evidence in it that could implicate any single member of the cast,” Greenmeyer said.
The play will be performed again as another dinner theater Saturday at 7 p.m., with dinner being served a half hour before that and doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at Olde Glory’s website or by calling Olde Glory volunteer JoAnn Boshart at 402-304-5392. Tickets will be available at the door at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for the 2 p.m. dessert matinees.
