Fame or Famine

Last night was an interesting experience – I was part of a “Murder Mystery” party along with several old friends and, as it would happen, an ex-girlfriend. We were all sent “character sheets” by the hostess earlier in the month, with time to prepare costumes, etc (these ranged from a person who simply put on a shawl to a man who had a pinstripe suit specially made for the occasion – then again, his character was Al Capone). I went halfway, which I think is understandable as I actually had two characters.

In the first half I was Don “Big Jim” Ravioli, a crime boss. There were all sorts of undercurrents and sub-plots with the other characters – my daughter was marrying someone I didn’t approve of, my ex-wife (played, amusingly enough, by my ex-girlfriend) was supposed to be giving me much grief about my new, much younger wife, my business partner was moving directions I didn’t like, there were capos from New York in town, and that annoying Inspector Neville “The Nose” Nutella.

That was the first half. Then I was going to get killed, just before dinner was served, and I would magically transform into Congressman Darrin Toosteal, with a whole new set of complications (including the fact that I was having an affair with Big Jim’s ex-wife, who, you’ll remember, was played by my ex-girlfriend). Then the Inspector (and many others) would talk about the things they knew and didn’t know and hopefully come up with the solution to the crime.

I had fun with the characters – I went from foofy black & costume jewelry to white-shirt-and-bow-tie, and my hair was long enough that I could change the style pretty thoroughly. More to the point was the character, though – “Big Jim” needed to be congenial, but in a presumptive, you’re-going-to-be-friends-with-me-because-you-know-what’s-good-for-you way, and have a tough-guy temper as well (especially when his young wife called him “pookie” in front of others) (come to think of it, I’m rather proud of one little bit of extemporaneity – my young wife was played by the real-life girlfriend of “Al Capone”. Her character would have had to pretty much ignore him through the night – except that I, in character, asked him to “take care of her” and told her to “have fun with him”, which gave them license to spend much more time with each other.)

Then the congressman, who had presidential aspirations, would be the schmoozer, pumping hands, smiling, talking a little too loud and in constant hyperbole. I also got to be comedic – when the “affair” got too hot, for example, with someone asking me about my past, I chugged my wine as they talked, then said, brightly “Oh, look, I need more wine” and got up and left, quickly. It was a blatant steal from John Malkovich in “Queen’s Logic”, I confess.

But it was fun, if exhausting. Long before we really knew who’d killed Big Jim (and after three other murders had been committed, to the Inspector’s chagrin, and just before he himself got rubbed out) we as a group were tired of being our characters–and why wouldn’t we be? None of us were highly trained actors, and while the evening started with everyone roaring to go, by the end of the night, well-fed and worn out from trying to keep the facade up, we just wanted to take off the fake fedoras and be ourselves. I think that the plot line, as planned by the game designers, was a bit too complex, and I don’t know that it would have been possible to figure it out in time (no way to compare it, really).

Still, as dinner theatre goes, it was a great way to spend an evening.

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