In the spirit of Halloween, Campus Activities Board (CAB) held its second murder mystery dinner on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 6 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.
The murder mystery dinner featured a live and interactive performance accompanied by a meal, which was served to the audience members as they watched. As the plot unfolded, a mysterious death occurred, and attendees had the opportunity to attempt to answer the age-old question, “Who dun it?”
“The first time was a real success, everyone really enjoyed it,” said BreAnna Malancon, coordinator of the event and CAB student assistant. “This year, we decided to get students more involved, and we know we have our wonderful theatre program.”
While the first murder mystery dinner featured a company of professional performances, this year CAB made a casting call in the theatre department and held auditions, recruiting students to play the performance’s characters.
“They were entertaining,” said Andrew Carpenter, a senior political science major. “Even though they had slip-ups while they read off their scripts, it just made it funnier.”
The performance, “Murder Rides Again!” by James Daab, featured a cast of characters ranging from the gunslinger Johnny Bingo to the love-struck Miss Prunebacher, who fawns over the befuddled gambler Clancey Berringer. The hotheaded Bingo came into Miss Liddy’s Saloon as a stranger to the town and planned a gunfight with Berringer, who was not known to have the best constitution in violent situations or the best aim with a gun.
Bingo and Berringer set up for their gunfight and took aim. While the gambler fired a shot and at first thought himself the winner when his opponent fell dead to the ground, it was later discovered that the gunslinger had not died of a gun wound. From here, audience members had to attempt to figure out who was to blame, using clues from the performance and the clues provided at each table.
Courses from the evening’s meal were provided at intermissions that were incorporated into the performance, such as the primary chili cook-off, where attendees were served bowls of chili. Later, the main course – barbecue chicken, potato salad and baked beans – was served as part of the characters’ own barbecue. All of the food was provided by ARAMARK.
“It was good,” said Carpenter. “I liked that they incorporated the serving of the food into the play. I can’t say I was too fond of finding out the chili was 15 years old and the reason a character died after we ate it though!”
Indeed, audience members found out at the end of the performance that gunslinger Bingo had fallen victim to Prunebacher’s old chili. Rather than create a new chili dish each year after winning 15 years prior with her original recipe, Miss Prunebacher simply stored the same batch and resubmitted it at each cook-off.
All the while, audience members were included in the performance, acknowledged by the characters at various points as other patrons of Miss Liddy’s Saloon. Some students were even pulled from the audience after the chili cook-off as competitors, holding bowls of chili that were intended to be their personal recipes.
“Once you come in, you’re already part of the scene,” said Malancon. “You’re sitting at the table, you’re part of the scene. We wanted everyone to feel like they were part of the show.”
“I think the overall dinner was fun,” said Ashley Clayson, a senior biology major. “I like that the CAB puts on all sorts of events free for students. It makes it easier for students to get involved and have more school pride.”
Alerts for upcoming CAB events can be received via text message for those who text “CAB” to 68398. The CAB office can be contacted by phone at 985-549-3805.
“If you just come to school to walk around and go to class and then go home, you’re never going to get the real college experience,” said Malancon. “We do this to get students involved. You can’t ever say campus is boring if you come to CAB events.”