Redneck V.I.P.'s

JUNE 18, 2015 UPDATE - Our show at Angler's Thursday night was awesome! The cast of REDNECK RIVALRY (Chris Manson, David Smith, Kristi Morris, Karen Monroe and Sally Whitesell) outdid themselves, and the audience loved every minute of it.  I was particularly excited about this show, because for years now guests have been asking me if they can buy any Act4Murder merchandise, and Thursday was the first time I had some to sell! I put into place "V.I.P." packages available for purchase by our guests. By selecting "Eyewitness," "Expert Eyewitness" or one of the "Celebration" packages, you'll purchase an "Act4Murder Eyewitness" T-Shirt, mug or notepad (with balloons for the "Celebration" selections) - all high quality items and a fun

souvenir of your night out with us. Thursday night I had five V.I.P.'s in the audience, and they loved their T-Shirts! Check out our instagram photos on the front page of our website to see for yourself!  V.I.P. packages are available from our reservation page on the website, and watch for the "Romance" package coming soon. Thanks again REDNECKS - great show, as always! ~~ Paula

Our Mysterious Schedule!

Summer has arrived! 2015 is the 6th year we've been able to perform weekly for the tourists, and we worked as hard as ever to get our shows ready and the schedule solidified. The spring is so busy for us - getting a new show up, bringing back old ones, giving them facelifts, recasting, rehearsing… then from June on it's nothing but performances! Unfortunately, though, this year circumstances changed, and we're now in the process of selecting a new venue in the Destin area -  we hope to be set by the beginning of July. In the meantime, Okaloosa Island is only a few miles away, so hop in that car and come see us at Angler's Beachside Grill! We have select Thursday night shows going on this month through August. Hope to see you - this week June 18 - for REDNECK RIVALRY, a murderous look at …. well, redneck rivalry.  :)  ~~ Paula

Gonna miss those Cupcakes!

Act4Murder shows never go away.  I've written 30 shows, so I can generally keep a show running for a year or so, then will retire it for another four or five years until I'm ready to pull it out again.  And holiday shows are treated the same way except they are only performed in that specific holiday month.  So last night's final performance of DEATH BY CUPCAKE isn't really final, but the 2015 run is over, and I'm very sorry to see it end.  We had eight performances and every one was better than the last.  Which is saying a lot, because the first one was phenomenal!



This cast just clicked.  Every performance wasn't just perfect, it was fun, energetic, memorable and so solid you'd think these six people had been working together their whole lives.  And after each show, when we went around the table doing our retrospective, answering two questions:  What was your favorite part, and what was your least favorite part? Everyone had a hard time coming up with a least favorite part.

Candy-Coated Murder has been nothing but fun!

Just wanted to add a little note about how fantastic our run of DEATH BY CUPCAKE has been going.  They performed for the 7th time last night - 8th time if you count the dress rehearsal - and every show has been just fantastic.  We had one little "glitch" at one of our regular restaurants, but I think we worked out the problems we had that night and hopefully everyone learned something from it.  At any rate, just wanted to give some kudos' to my CUPCAKE cast - Cynthia Bergquist, Joe Chase and Jessika Kelsh, returning for the 9th year playing Hart Braker, Drew Blood, and Candy Valentine; Heidi Best-Swift coming in as Shakira Sharp (after playing Bubble Braker in last year's DEATH BY CANDYGRAM), and newcomers Matt Williams and Mark Clutter, as Bobby Fillet and Hugh Jeego.  Fantastic work by everyone - thanks folks!

Do the math!

We get about 1 person a year who hates us.  Thinks we suck.  There were a couple of years where we didn't get any "you suck" comments, but we've been in business for 13 years, so I'll go with 13 people who hate us.  So when you do the math, having performed for close to 23,000 people, that means 0.00056 percent of the population who have seen us perform think we are horrid.  Not too bad a percentage, really.

Why do they hate us?  We are too "amateur," "can't hear us," "dancing looked bad," "dumb story," "too much fighting," "over-priced," and my favorite, "didn't like it that someone died."

The fighting? Well, that kind of has to happen to establish a motive.  Can't hear - we've vastly improved on that one over the years, as we have the dancing (thanks to my incredibly talented daughter, our official choreographer).  The criticism about the writing? A person's taste in writing is pretty subjective, so if they don't like it, I can't help it.  Amateur?  Yeah, no.  Although one person who called my actors "hokey" was right - they were performing as a bunch of rednecks who were supposed to be hokey. Over-priced?  Have you checked out the price to go to the movies and get a large coke and a big bucket of popcorn?  This seems like a better deal, given you're getting a 3-course meal and a 3 hour show for that price.  And "didn't like it that someone died?"  LOL!  It's a MURDER MYSTERY!

I remember the first time I got a bad comment back.  It killed me.  I put my heart and soul into Act4Murder and for someone to so flippantly tell me my work sucks really hurt.  But after 13 years, and 13 people who hate us, I'm doing a little better at letting it roll off my back. I mean, honestly?  You can't please everyone.  And given that 0.00056 percentage, I'd say I'm pleasing MOST everyone, and that's not a bad thing!
 ~~ Paula

How does he manage?!

Since 2008, I haven't had to manage a show alone.  My wonderful boyfriend, Chris Manson, took over that job, leaving me more time to write new shows and work on advertising.  But a few months ago when our February shows started booking, we realized we were going to need to be able to double-book on a couple of nights in order to accommodate both public shows and private events on and around Valentine's Day.  So last night was my first foray back into the world of stage managing.

I honestly don't know how he does it.  As much as I love this business - the shows, the actors, the restaurants, the guests… it's a tough gig to manage a show.  I had to deal with comments and complaints about the music being too loud and not loud enough, the room being too cold and too hot, guests asking me for refills on drinks, to turn on the fans and turn off the fans, and "where's my sour cream," "could you bring more more ranch dressing," and, "Help, I spilled my water… ," well, you get the drift.  I did my best to keep up and make everyone comfortable, but by the end of the night I was exhausted.

Here's the thing - Chris doesn't just MANAGE the shows, he's also in them.  All I was doing was managing, and I forgot about handing out the "After Scene One" handout until 30 seconds before Scene Two was about to start, ALMOST forgot to do the door prize drawing at the end of the show, and COMPLETELY forgot to hand out comment cards.  He never forgets anything.

Despite MY inadequacies, the cast was amazing and it was successful premier of my newest show, DEATH BY CUPCAKE.  Thanks so much to the Coach-N-Four in Crestview - what a great, hard-working staff they have there!  And once we got the music and room temperature set where everyone was pleased, and all that ranch dressing and sour cream out, everyone had a great time.

I get to do it again in a week when we have two shows on Valentine's Day.  Maybe I'll do a better job of keeping my head on straight.  It's no mystery what I have to do - I need to pretend I'm Chris and do it without breaking a sweat.  ~~ Paula

Chopping at the bit for the Chop House!

Tonight would have been our FIRST performance at the Chop House in Navarre.  So if you have been to the Chop House and saw a murder mystery there, it was not Act4Murder performing that show.  If you DID see another show there, and you DO decide to give murder mystery another try at the Chop House, it will be Act4Murder performing.  And while you're there, tell Chris Manson "Chablis sent me!" and we'll buy you a drink.  And that's a promise!  :)  ~ Paula