Murder at Dale's 50th Birthday Party!!

Some of you have been wondering why I've been so quiet this week. Where is the Murder Mystery recap, dammit?!? Where is it?!?!

Truth be told? I haven't been doing anything. I've just been breathing.

Because for the past month or so? I wasn't breathing. At all.

As many of you already know, and as I've talked quite a bit about on this blog, I'm a worrier. I panic. I wallow in anxiety. And when I'm stressed out, I.don't.breathe.

So, while preparing for Murder Mystery, holding practices for the cast, and planning all the details and decorations with co-director Brenda, I was literally spazzing out. I had several members of my cast that loved to wind me up and make me nuts. Towards the end, I was even starting to pray for some illness - not bad, just something contagious - to hit me a few days before, so that I could hide away in my room until it was all over.

Of course - of course - I didn't need to worry. But there ain't nobody in the world who could've assured me of that beforehand. (Just ask B!)

Once again, it was a great show! About 190 people crammed into The Shamrock Lounge (aka the Lions Hall) for Dale MacKechnie's swanky 50th birthday celebration. (Major coup? Getting Dale to play himself, only a few weeks after his actual 50th Birthday!! Score!!)

Security was tight that night (another amazing feat - getting my brother and Wayne to man the doors in black suits, head-sets, and shades - they looked pretty spiffy if I do say so myself!), but somehow, eight undercover spies managed to gain access to MacKechnie's lavish party, and all became suspects after he was murdered. His body was found on the balcony shortly after the party began - he had been strangled.

Wayne and Luke - our Door Security Guards

Fortunately, two of the attendees from last year's events at the Trickle Creek Lodge had become police officers, so we welcomed back Kaptain Keharn Flake (Troy Cote) and Deputy Bess Diddler (Steph Belanger) to solve the murder.

Troy & Steph in costume as Kaptain Flake and Deputy Diddler

After arriving on-scene, they quickly began interrogating the suspects: Ivan Oder (Joe McCleary), an American spy with a bad temper, posing as a security guard; Camille Sol (Tammy Cheslock), an agent from France, working as a maid; Paddy O'Furniture (Bill Young), a member of the IRA, giant leprechaun, and bartender; Jessica Tom Collins (Marie-Eve Provost), a CIA agent and Dale's grief-stricken fiancee; Duke Bigalow (Derek McColgan), another member of the CIA and handsome gigolo; Natasha Kozlov (Lise Nobert), a Russian spy posing as a famous singer; Simon Rickman (Marc Kingsbury), a double-agent and computer whiz; and Anita Mandalay (Joanne Marcotte), hired by Dale to be the "woman of the evening" and entertain the male guests.

Those of you who have been to one before know how it goes after that. They spent the next three hours pointing fingers at one another and defending themselves, while the crowd roared with laughter and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

You don't get much better than that!

It was a fantastic night, and I once again must thank my cast for dedicating their time and energy to this fundraiser that the Quyon Lionettes host, and it is definitely one of the highlights in the community. Also, to Brenda for putting up with my crap; to the Lionettes for allowing us to tackle the project once again; to all who helped out along the way; and to all who came out and enjoyed the show.

Our Security Guards with the dead guy

I wasn't sure it was possible to top last year's Murder Mystery. But MC Patti Davis announced that we were successful in doing so, so kudos to everyone involved!

In the end, it's always worth it.

And I'm able to breathe again.

This is what I look like when I breathe again. Okay, maybe it was the rum.