What the Butler Saw (Whodunnit)

3 hours ago

4 min read

From left to right: Angelique X. Stacy, Bryan Hoffmann, Mitzi Wood, Tiger Rogers, Rachel Hoffmann, John Lina, Graham Troop

The Twelve Murders of Christmas

Written by A.S. Waterman

Directed by Beth Olliges

You always think you’ll know exactly what questions to ask when there’s a murder, but TV detectives make it look easy. As I learned at the December 6th production of The Twelve Murders of Christmas, it’s not so easy to find the right question to catch a killer.

Produced by the Whodunnit Murder Mystery Theater of Louisville, The Twelve Murders of Christmas proved a tough nut to crack when it came to uncovering who killed the Butler, played by Whodunnit veteran Tiger Rogers.

The production is double cast. I saw the Red team, with the addition of Anna Francis as Felice Navidad from the Green team.

The play delivered lots of conversation and plenty to contemplate over dinner at the Bristol Bar & Grille Highlands.

The scene opens just before your salad arrives, with the Butler informing you he will be dead before the evening is over — the first indication that something unusual was afoot.

Then six people enter the room, all dressed for a party with festive sounding names like Felice Navidad, then sure enough, the Butler drops dead after a glass of champagne.

But they were all drinking champagne and no one else died. I was flummoxed.

The cast began to deconstruct their situation. They’re not random party goers, it turns out: Each has been invited and given a Christmas-themed fake name to use with their invitation to the party. But more significantly, we learn all six are, in fact, murderers — albeit for vastly different reasons, as we later learn.

The cast wandered from table, chatting with the audience in character as we try to come up with questions that might reveal who killed the Butler. The cast must tell the truth when asked a question, but they have to tell you no if they murdered the Butler.

Angelique X. Stacy, who played the seemingly demure Beth Littletown, proved the most talkative but we weren’t able to coax more out of her than a confirmation that the Butler was, indeed, dead from poisoning.

So much for my theory that he faked his death to frame someone.

My favorite character interaction was with John Lina, who played Harold Angell, a “talent manager” who works for the “family.” You know - the Family. He played the role like a fitted suit and joked with us that we should ask him if he did it since he could only lie. When we asked, he chirped, “Since I have to lie, yes I did it.”

All played their parts well both during the performance and ad libbing with the audience. Rachel Hoffmann portrayed Dusty Fidelis with great humor. Bryan Hoffmann maintained a stiff upper lip as English gentleman Silas Knight. Graham Troop played Wayne Manger with convincing creepiness. Anna Francis gave a vivacious performance as Felice Navidad.

During the audience inquiry, most of the cast of characters seemed as confused as we were and revealed little information — or maybe we just asked the wrong questions.

Then we were off to scene two, which began again with the dead Butler. He now informs us that every year, he dies at a party like this, which is designed to catch a stone cold killer. He tells us there are different reasons for the murders each cast member committed, five of which are justified —- e.g., killing a child molester, killing to protect family — but one who kills for pleasure.

At this point, I spiraled into over-plotting a possible connection between the Butler and my suspect. I couldn’t identify a motive, so I made one up. In the end, I guessed the villain — sorry, no spoilers — but missed the clue that proved it.

And therein lies a lesson, kids: When attending a Whodunnit, be sure to pay close attention the moment it begins. For instance, don’t be futzing with your phone, trying to turn it off at the last minute.

Finally, in scene three, the killer is revealed and the Butler has his vengeance by turning the killer into a Christmas tree. The evil-doer takes the Butler’s place in this bizarre annual ritual.

Alas, he’s not the only one. The Christmas Whodunnit presentation was so fun and engaging, it’s already on my to-do list for next year.

The production runs Friday and Saturday evenings through Dec. 13, as well as Dec. 19 and 20, with a final performance on Jan. 3.

The 12 Murders of Christmas

WhoDunnit Murder Mystery Theater

Fridays and Saturdays; Seating at 6:30 P.M. / Show starts at 7:00pm

December 6, 12, 13 The Bristol Bar & Grille Highlands 1321 Bardstown Rd

Louisville, KY 40204

December 19. 20 and January 3 The Bristol Bar & Grille Downtown

614 West Main Street

Ticketing info: Click the link to be added to the waitlist for this sold out run, or call (502) 649-1829