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Monday, December 18, 2017

DEAD AIR – A Mystery Comedy By Lee Mueller South Padre Island


DEAD AIR – A MYSTERY COMEDY PLAY BY LEE MUELLER

 Radio station WEZ-Y established a winning format in the 1950's and has stuck with it ever since. Ever since the 60's, the 70's, the 80's etc. Nothing has changed. Not the music nor the annual "Live Broadcast" hosted by Guy Godfry; 'Your voice in the night.'

 However, this particular Anniversary show proves to be a wee bit different. First of all, rumor has it the station is about to be purchased by a large media conglomerate. Secondly, Guy seems to be having a virtual breakdown on the air. To top it off, the Bunny Bagel Boy collapses right after his live commercial spot and appears to be dead.

Will any of this help the ratings? Is anyone listening?
Does anyone care? 
Why am I asking you? 

Tune in January 22 or 23 with our local actors and find out! Doors open at 6:30 for complimentary hors-d'oeuvres, show starts at 7:30.Isla Grand Beach Resort, 500 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island

Not in the area? Read the play!



Click Here for Book

Monday, October 23, 2017

Carousel Theatre of Indianola's production of “To Wake The Dead” by Lee Mueller

Carousel Theatre of Indianola (Iowa)  is proud to announce the cast for this fall’s murder mystery dinner theatre production of “To Wake The Dead” by Lee Mueller.

Renown Supernatural Mystery writer Fred Finnegan has died under unusual circumstances and all his friends have gathered at his wake. His friend and literary agent Lenord Elmore presides over the wake along with Fred's widow Joyce. 

"To Wake The Dead" Carousel Theatre
Also in attendance are all of Fred's old friends: ex-police Chief Wambaugh and officer Francis. Danny Runyon, a reformed "wise guy" and his doll (date) Peaches Marie Crabtree. Agatha Fletcher, a news reporter from the Associated Wire. There is also a faction of the 'Fredrick Finnegan Fan Club' at the wake: president Stephanie King, vice-president Deanna Koonz and secretary, Clyde Barker. 

The wake starts off in a traditional nature with good old Irish toasts and amusing stories about Freddie and his life, but the circumstances of Freddie's death keep coming into question. The one guest who would appreciate answers is Fred Finnegan himself. Problem is, only the nerd-ish Clyde Barker has the gift to "hear" dead people. Can Freddie use Clyde to find the answers he needs? Was Fred murdered by someone at the wake? He's dying to find out.

To Wake the Dead
La Vida Loca Winery
Oct. 26th, 27th, and 28th at 6:00 p.m.
 Dinner served (vegetarian options available)
Tickets- $50 per person
Call (515) 962-2236 for tickets

Book Version Available from Amazon

Tuesday, September 05, 2017

"I'm Getting Murdered In The Morning" 10/6 & 10/7

The Western St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce is hosting their 7th Annual Mystery Dinner Theater on Friday, October 6th and Saturday, October 7th, 2017.
 The cast will be performing a two act show each night “I’m Getting Murdered in the Morning.” by Lee Mueller.
The event will be held at Heritage of Hawk Ridge located at 235 Pigeon Dr., Lake St Louis, MO 63367. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the play starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $35 per person. Admission includes dinner, wine, beer, dessert and a memorable performance.
For reservations contact the Western St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce at 636-327-6914 or please visit us online at http://gowscc.com/product/dinner-theater/. Seating is limited, so please make your reservations early because tickets sell out fast.

Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Context - The Thin Line between Murder And Comedy

Originally published on 05/18/11

An interesting thought occurred to me the other day which was spawned by a "keyword" search phrase that pointed to my website Play-dead.com; the search term was "how do murder mystery and comedy differ?"

I have actually pondered a similar question myself which is: "How can I (and others) get away with writing Murder Mystery Comedies?" I mean, we are writing about someone being murdered and yet, the whole thing is steeped in the compound of the comedy genre and people actually laugh. Come on, if you think about it, there is no way that should work. Murder is a horrendous thing, right? Especially when not viewed through a comedic filter. How did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe, or Raymond Chandler make a living writing about murder in a serious fashion?

How do you explain it?


O.K. First of all, when it comes to murder mystery comedies, it's not as if I'm writing something like "Abbot and Costello Meet The BTK Killer" or Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "On The Road to Jonestown".
That would be using something very serious and well known and trying to add comedy to it. That wouldn't really work.

Here's the deal:

The "Poetic License", if you will, for Murder Mystery Comedy has to do with "context". That is, in what "context" do you base something that on the surface is normally a "horrendous thing"?

We can watch cartoons, we know the Road Runner is not causing grave injuries to the Coyote in real life. We are quite certain that Moe is not poking out the eyes of Curley on the Three Stooges. We have a mental facility that distinguishes between real and unreal. Serious and not so serious.

Is everything in a play set up very seriously? A murder mystery play. Is the atmosphere and tone of the story very stark, dark and dramatic? Is the victim a very kind and caring person that the audience can identify and sympathize with? Is the crime tremendously brutal and violent? If so, the context of the piece is similar to "The Diary Of Anne Frank" or The Laramie Project. If so, the context is serious.

What would be correct context?

Well, how about moving the context 180 degrees. Set up the play in a "not so serious" mood. Establish a tone and atmosphere that is light and slightly satirical. Create a victim that no one has room to identify with or spend one iota of sympathy upon. A character that is perhaps pompous or shallow, or better yet, not very realistic. And when the "horrendous" act occurs - it has all the impact of Aunt Helen belching at the Dinner table. You are not shocked by it, but instead, want to laugh.

Speaking of food, I heard a quote attributed to Alfred Hitchcock - I don't know the exact quote so I will paraphrase: - A good suspense thriller should be like a Fruitcake, full of nuts - (again, it was something akin to this) The point is, right from the start of the story, you should get a good idea of what's about to be served. If the ingredients - that is the characters are not rich and developed as in a thick layer cake, but no, instead they're a bit nutty and there are bits of fruit thrown in. Once the brain registers this concept, (this is not an Angel food cake) -  the "serious" factor moves out. The context changes to "not" serious and when your context moves away from taking it seriously - this leaves room for humor.


The bottom line is that if the characters and the story are removed from reality - everything you see and hear is written and presented as being over the top, humorous fashion, tongue in cheek -  it is hard to react to the material in a somber manner.

Once the tone is established as superfluous or unreal;  you remove the reality from the audience's perception. You place their expectations in the correct context and give them permission to laugh. Even at the subject of "murder" or "death".

Context and tone are most important when walking the thin line between what appears on the surface to be a serious subject and allowing laughter to prevail. If done correctly, the horrendous can become hilarity. But the danger lies in taking the subject "out" of context. Yes, you may say that "Murder" in and of itself is not something to be made fun of or laughed at.  While this statement is true, the context of the subject is shifted and therefore creates an alternate conclusion.  That thin line can be crossed very quickly depending on how you look at it. The bottom line here is that I do not use my talent to belittle, disparage or ridicule the seriousness of murder or any crime, nor do I believe any famous artist who ever tackled the subject had intended to do. They only intended to put the subject matter into a certain context, using their craft to present it a different way.  If someone remains on the other side of the line and cannot look at it in a different way, while they certainly have that right to do so, the point of many things will be lost, and remain unseen in that narrow field of view.



Tuesday, March 21, 2017

"Audition For A Murder" hit the boards again and again

When the theatrical tallies are posted at the end of the year for "Most Produced Play", per my records "An Audition For A Murder" has to be on top. Off the top of my head, I know its production this year and last year is way into the double digits. Of course, no one keeps track of produced work by independent playwrights except for the independent playwrights. At the end of the year, I'm sure a tired old musical of some type will be listed at the "most produced." 

So let me once again plug another production of "An Audition For A Murder". 


For Vacaville’s Gaslighters Theatrical Company, their stock in trade has always been ... well, stock characters played for laughs.
As it has for years, delivery of their product, melodramas to whodunits, wrapped in period costumes and often overworked English phrases to comedic effect, is what consumes the troupe today, as they prepare and rehearse their latest effort: “An Audition for a Murder.”
“We’re happy to be presenting another Lee Mueller murder-mystery,” Mary Cornelison Muehlenbruch, the Gaslighters’ president and producer of the show, said in a press release. 

“We’ve done a number of his plays over the years. They’re smartly written, funny, and our audiences have always enjoyed his storylines, and we always add our own comedy touches to make the story even funnier!”



Performances are at 8 p.m. March 31, April 1 and 7; at 7:30 p.m. April 8 (a dinner show); and at 3 p.m. April 2 and 9. All shows will be in Harbor Theater’s Nove Cabaret Theatre, 720 Main St., in downtown Suisun City.
Tickets for non-dinner shows are $20, and $39.50 for the dinner show, available by calling 628-3737 or by visiting www.vacavillegaslighters.com.


Read the play click here








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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

" A Murder Has Been Renounced" - LaGrange Ohio

A Murder Has Been Renounced by Lee Mueller
"A Murder Has Been Renounced” by Lee Mueller will be presented at the Carlisle Visitor Center in LaGrange Ohio.
Performances will be May 12-13, and May 19-20. Seating will be at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7.
Friends of Metro Parks of Lorain County will sponsor the production and this Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre.
The Carlisle Visitor Center is located at 12882 Diagonal Road in LaGrange. 
Tickets are $30 per person or $58 per couple. Group rates are also available.
For more information or to order tickets, call 216-544-3865
Unable to attend? 
Read the Play  Click Here

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Newburgh Community Theater is 'Getting Murdered in the Morning' dinner theater

Newburgh Community Theater's next event will be a night of firsts.
The productions will be the group’s first attempt at hosting a murder mystery event, which will be the first in memory for the community as well.
Newburgh Community Theater will be bringing to life “I’m Getting Murdered in the Morning,” by playwright Lee Mueller. The play brings in the audience as members of a wedding reception gone tragically and comically wrong.
There will be a public performance at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at Preservation Hall at 200 State St. in Newburgh Indiana, but the cast will also be taking the show to a private performance the next day at Rolling Hills Country Club.
After watching their daughter tie the knot, the wealthy Montagues receive an unwelcome surprise when a mysterious man drops dead on the dance floor at the reception. Public relations panic ensues as family secrets come to light and a nosey and obtrusive society columnist looks forward to writing the scandal of the season.
The rehearsals over the last month have kept the cast belly laughing almost continuously.
For tickets and information, visit newburghcommunitytheater.org. 

Read The Play Click Here 

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

"An Audition For A Murder" will Benefit Leeds Center For The Arts

An Audition For A Murder by Lee Mueller
An Audition for a Murder” takes you to The Westchester Community Theatre, where open auditions are being held for its next production, ‘Death of a Disco Dancer,’ written by a locally known playwright. 
As local actors show up for cold readings, it becomes evident that there is some animosity among those who have worked together before.  Over the course of auditions, someone dies!  The audience will be asked to try to determine who the killer(s) is and how they did it.
This event on February 25th at the Winchester Opera House is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the local arts center in Winchester.  The evening will include dinner, the show, as well as live and silent auctions.  A cash bar will also be available.
Doors open for the event at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner and show beginning at 6:30 p.m.  Tickets are $50 each.
For more information, head to leedscenter.org, check out their Facebook page or call (859) 744-6437.
The Winchester Opera House is located at 10 East Lexington Avenue, in Winchester KY
Unable to attend or not in the area? No problem. You can read the play! Click Here for details


Friday, February 10, 2017

El Paseo Arts present "Murder Me Always"


On February 21st and 22nd, El Paseo Arts Foundation transforms the ballroom at the Isla Grand Beach Resort into a Mystery Dinner Theatre for a production of the comedy mystery spoof, Murder Me Always by Lee Mueller. 

Doors to the Ballroom open for sponsor seating at 6:20 p.m. and for general seating at 6:30 p.m. Complimentary light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be open from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. when the curtain goes up on the play. The actors will be circulating among the audience during the cocktail hour, providing some information about themselves and possibly some clues about the Murder that will occur during the play. 

Tickets for Murder Me Always are $30 per person, $25 for El Paseo Arts members. Tickets are available for purchase at Paragraphs Book Store, SOS, PadreRitaGrill, the Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square, and online at www.elpaseoarts.org. 

Can't attend? Read the play! Click Here for details.