By ED SALVAS
The Premier Theatre Company is bringing Murder Mystery Dinner Theater back to the area with the announcement of a new interactive audience show January 27 and 28.
“Murder at the Juice Joint” kicks off Premier’s 2017 season with two performances on January 27 and 28 at The Asbury Park Woman’s Club at 57 Wickapecko Drive in Wanamassa. This is Premier Theatre’s first production since undergoing a change in management with a new President and Board of Trustees. According to a press release, members of the audience will be actively involved in the show.
“It’s the roaring twenties: prohibition has ended, organized crime is on the rise and the local speakeasy, The Juice Joint is celebrating,” the release said. “There is murder on the menu – a medley of suspicious characters from mobsters, bootleggers and their molls to a swanky singer, a cigarette girl with a temper and a crooked police chief. No one is safe, but everyone will have a chance to solve the mystery!”
Kitty Cleary, Corresponding Secretary for Premier Theatre, said the Woman’s Club was chosen for the show because it’s a great space with seating for 100 people and will serve as a test of the new dinner theater format.
John Sabatos, a longtime member of the company, is now President of Premier. “Murder at the Juice Bar” is being directed by Kasi Sweeney who has been performing with the company since the age of three and veteran performer Mary Lawrence is producing.
According to Cleary, the Premier Theatre Company has plans to produce several additional shows in 2017 and is already working on the next show, “The Great American Talent Show,” which will be presented at the Middletown Arts Center on February 17 and 18. She said they hope to bring shows to other parts of the county in an effort to draw older audiences back to the theater. Premier Theatre has been producing shows for more than 30 years, and some of its earliest shows were dinner theater productions at the Berkeley Hotel in Asbury Park.
Tickets for “Murder at the Juice Bar” are now on sale through the Premier Theatre Box Office at 732-774-STAR. The Premier Theatre website is www.PremierTheatre.com. Audience members for “Murder at the Juice Bar” are being encouraged to dress in “Roaring 20’s” attire.