NEWS

A mysterious night on the town

CURTAIN CALL: Patrons dine at Mysteriously Yours, waiting for the curtain to rise .

I had often walked by Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre at Yonge north of Davisville, curious about what was inside. When I decided to finally give it a try, I had no idea how much fun I was in for!

Mysteriously Yours is a family-run interactive dinner theatre. When they first opened in the neighborhood in about 1995, Iliki Mahairas, General Manager, says they catered to more of an older crowd but the audience is getting younger, as people are looking for more interactive entertainment. Also, restaurant prices are going up and if you want to do something after dinner it costs even more money. Mysteriously Yours provides dining and entertainment all in one.

Dinner was surprisingly tasty and the service was excellent. The fixed price menu offers limited choices but everything is made well. The menu items are a prelude to the rest of the evening, featuring things like Murderous Cocktails and Killer Apps.

The atmosphere felt warm and cozy with old style décor, complete with brass railings, gold gilded mirrors, plush red velvet seats and dim lights. It felt a bit like dining in a luxurious vintage railway car.

Mysteriously Yours cast
WHO COULD THEY BE? The cast at Mysteriously Yours is sworn to secrecy and will never reveal their identities.

On to the entertainment portion of the evening: The room came to life when characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson begin to make an appearance, along with other colorful characters like writer Agatha Crystal, escape artist Harry Whodunit and his wife Bessie and the innocent seeming sweet old lady Miss Marble. They began walking around and interacting with audience members, even randomly sitting and chatting with us at our tables without ever getting out of character.

I had been reluctant to put on the nametag they asked us to wear but when I realized it was so the characters could speak to us by name and include us in the mystery I thought it was a great idea.

The stage was set for the show to begin. Early on in the performance, one of the characters was found dead, and the audience was given clues and envelopes with newspaper clippings to try to figure out who the murderer was.

It felt a little silly at first when we were prompted to say “Ooohhh and “Ahh” when words like “dead”, “murder” or “poisoned” were spoken, but once you just accept it and go along with it, you won’t be able to help having fun.

If you’re shy, beware: you might be asked at any time to help uncover a clue or prompted to say a line. While I held my breath hoping I would not be called upon, I was impressed by some of the improvisation skills of some of the other audience members who were. People were good sports and the encouraging applause from the rest of the audience – especially for the seniors in the crowd – helped a lot.

After the story had been skilfully and humorously told by the actors, it was left to us to cast our ballots and determine who the murderer was. I thought I had figured it out and was eagerly anticipating my prize (yes, they even give out prizes!) but when the culprit was revealed, I couldn’t believe how wrong I had been!

The show was mostly a comedic, tongue-in-cheek take on a murder mystery. The cast kept the audience entertained, laughing and engaged. By the time it was over, everyone was oohing and ahhing with no coaxing necessary.

The crowd varied from couples, girls’ nights out and families and we even got to witness a proposal, which the cast members incorporated into the story. That was one mystery none of us expected!

A night out at Mysteriously Yours is a good escape; your only concern is figuring out who the murderer is and hearing the next joke above the laughter from the one that came before it.

If you’re looking for some fun, interactive entertainment and maybe even your moment in the spotlight, I highly recommend Mysteriously Yours. It will remind you how to laugh at yourself again.