Dinner theater offers deadly fun

Guests will be left guessing who the real killer is during interactive show

LARRY CRUIKSHANK/VIEWActors Eric Kohn, left, and Christie Copeland banter with each other and the audience during the "Marriage Can Be Murder" dinner theater show at the Canyon Club inside the Four Queens. Advertisement

'MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER'

* When: 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday

* Where: Canyon Club at the Four Queens, 202 Fremont St.

* Tickets: $44.95 to $69.95

* Information: 616-3322

Stay alive. Trust no one. Remember, everyone is a suspect.

That was the strategy adopted by Las Vegas stay-at-home mother Sofia LaCroix as she prepared to survive an evening of mayhem and murder at the interactive murder mystery dinner show "Marriage Can Be Murder" at the Canyon Club.

As she waited for the show to begin on a clear evening in mid-February, LaCroix said she'd only recently learned of its existence, but was excited by the potential danger, even if it was just fictional.

"It's fantasy play," LaCroix said. "For an evening, my husband and I can pretend that we are really in some sort of danger, there's a killer on the loose and who knows who will be next."

LaCroix, who dreamed of becoming a detective during her formative years, said the theater experience would be the closest she'd ever get.

"This is a dream come true for me in a way," she said. "I can pretend I'm a detective hot on the trail of a mass murderer and every clue is leading me closer to a confrontation. I've heard nothing but good things about this play."

The 21/2-hour dinner show is an interactive experience in which audience members mingle and interview possible suspects. As the body count rises, the faux-sleuths attempt to solve the crimes.

"You never know if you're going to be next, and you start to suspect someone and then they're the next to die," La Croix said.

As LaCroix learned, when murder, intrigue and deception are on the menu, one can never be too careful.

For Eric Post, the show's creator, writer and director, the joy of observing audience members unravel the puzzle is the best part of the evening.

"There's a giddy tension that settles over everyone," Post said. "When the killer is revealed at the end of the show, you see people elbowing each other and apologizing to neighbors for falsely accusing them. It's great."

Fueling the mass paranoia, actors are inconspicuously seated at tables throughout the crowd, each with his or her own backstory.

"They melt into the crowd," Post said. "Including the killer. So you never know who you're sitting next to, the killer or a potential victim."

Cast member Christie Copeland has been playing the role of air-headed hostess Mi-Mi for the past three years and said she can't imagine doing anything else.

"My job is to interact with people and have a great time," Copeland said. "It's always fun to see how crowds react to the show. Some, I have to rein in and keep them going, others seem more willing to get into the spirit of things."

According to Post, the production is more than an original murder mystery theater experience; it is the only production of its kind in Las Vegas.

"There is not another show like it in town," Post said. "We change the show every four months. I hire new actors, overhaul the script and change the theme so that it's a completely new experience. Someone who saw the show in October will not see the same show if they came out to the Canyon Club next week."

"Marriage Can Be Murder" plays at 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the Canyon Club inside the Four Queens Hotel, 202 Fremont St. Tickets are between $44.95 and $69.95 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 616-3322.