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The Mouse River Players present “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” for two weekends

Local theater group presents “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940”

Elsa, played by Katy Allers, shows her guests the blueprints of the house as they look for the Stage Door Slasher.

A lot can go wrong during a stage performance, but one that no one considers is murder. Mouse River Players presents “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” on March 8-10 and March 15-17 at its theater downtown.

“The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” follows Elsa von Grossenknueten as she invites the creative team of a new musical to her estate under the guise of a backer’s audition. The real motive though is to try and discover the identity of the Stage Door Slasher, a mysterious person who has terrorized their last unsuccessful musical.

Unfortunately, the meeting doesn’t go as planned as members of the team start being murdered in plain sight. The team and Elsa quickly learn that the Stage Door Slasher has been brought with.

“We know that our audiences enjoy comedies and we have had success with murder mysteries in the past,” explained director Brittany Knickerbocker about why the show was chosen, “so this show was perfect.”

There are a variety of unique aspects going into this Mouse River Players production according to Knickerbocker. The play will consist of several familiar faces to regular audiences with a few actors who haven’t been on stage for many years mixed in as well. For one actor involved, this will be their first ever theater experience.

“Two actors, Heather Speer and Justin Haines, are using accents, which isn’t something we frequently do an MRP,” explained Knickbocker. “Heather has been working hard to develop a German accent and Justin actually switches between more than one during the show!”

Along with all that the actors do, the set on-stage will involve a variety of secrets including at least one functional secret passageway.

“The show allowed us some interesting creative challenges,” said Knickbocker. “The audience will be excited to see what on-stage secret will be revealed next.”

A special touch added to “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” that Mouse River Players added in was a few specially made musical numbers. According to Knickbocker, the play didn’t come with music so a local high school student, Miles Clough, created accompaniment for the songs.

“They turned out great and I think audiences will leave humming the tunes,” said Knickbocker.

According to Knickbocker, the play starts off with action right away and it doesn’t stop until the curtain closes.

The fun, fast-paced play has no bad language or vulgarity, but it is still geared toward teens and adults with some adult themes present.

The play will take place at the Mouse River Players theater. Friday and Saturday performances on March 8-9 and March 15-16 will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday performances on March 10 and March 17 will take place at 2 p.m.

Tickets for the show cost $15 for adults, $13 for students, seniors and military and $10 for children under the age of 12.

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