INNISFAIL - There's nothing quite like a murder mystery to add a little intrigue and humour to Valentine's Day.
That's exactly what went down at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion on Feb. 11 during Terry Shane Murder Mysteries of Smoking Gun Entertainment and the dinner theatre production, Tying the Knot: A Hillbilly Wedding.
"Our performances are so dependent on our crowds and we had an amazing crowd tonight," said Michael Brown, one of the Calgary-based producers for Terry Shane Murder Mysteries. "It was a good show. There were a lot of laughs and people were really into it, which makes it so much easier for us."
Brown played the Terry Shane investigator, an off-duty RCMP officer named Angus McWallace-Fitzsimmons, a character who provided plenty of laughs throughout the night.
Brown was joined by a cast that included Brianna Johnston (Lily Beth), Kevin Trumble (Donavon Carmichael), Catherine Gell (Kate Carmichael), Chris Iverson (J.T. Skidder and Uncle Buck), Shandrae McQueen (Nellie Woodsay) and Ann Mulders (Me-Ma).
The production is one of several interactive murder mysteries presented by the company, which made its first appearance in Innisfail last year.
They returned with a mostly different cast and a different production.
Chris Iverson was a newer cast member who portrayed two characters in the murder mystery -- J.T. Skidder and uncle Buck.
"It's my first time performing in Innisfail and first time with this particular show," said Iverson, who has been with the theatre troupe for just over a year. "The crowd was amazing, they were engaged and really seemed to enjoy the show."
The Terry Shane Murder Mysteries theatre troupe has chapters in Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and also in Vancouver and Toronto.
Their main focus is murder mysteries, but they are not limited to those types of productions said Brown.
"We'll do roving character shows, we'll do trivia games and we can MC events. We do it all," he said, noting what he likes best about the show. "My favourite part is as the investigator. I get to interact with the audience directly."
Brown said the theatre troupe would love to return to Innisfail a third time and continue providing plenty of laughter and mystery.
"We love coming to small towns. You can have a little more freedom in how you interact with the audience, so it's a lot of fun," said Brown. "We certainly would love to come back to Innisfail. We have a lot of fun up here."
Chris Iverson, actor
"The crowd was amazing, they were engaged and really seemed to enjoy the show."
