The West Hudson Arts & Theater Company’s annual murder mystery dinner theater experience returns with the original production of “Class of 2005: A Killer Reunion,” which was written by award-winning local playwright and author Allyssa Hynes. This year’s performances of the annual WHATCo fundraiser are Friday & Saturday, March 28 and 29 at the American Legion Post 99, at 314 Belgrove Drive, Kearny.
Audiences are invited to join this 20-year high school reunion as former classmates reminiscence with old friends — and enemies. When a dead body is found, former school rivals turn their competition for grades and accolades to finding clues and suspects. Who will catch the killer first? Which person from their past is a murderer? The lighthearted murder mystery dinner show combines scripted scenes with moments of improv where actors will talk with dinner guests in character.
The audience will be asked to solve the murder as it unfolds throughout a three-course buffet dinner catered by Spanish Pavillion and other local eateries. Tickets are $50 per person and include a dinner buffet, soda, tea and dessert. A cash bar will be available.
“These WHATCo Murder Mystery Dinner Theater fundraisers have become a community tradition in their own right,” Hynes said. “We are excited each year to see returning audiences joined by new faces.”
Tickets are being sold exclusively online at www.whatconj.org an or by phone (201) 540-9428. Reserved tables of up to eight are available. Groups and organizations are welcome. Tickets will not be sold at the door for this production.
The cast features Ed Shea, Alexis Saarela, Robert Strauch, John Jesse Jeffords, Karen Koronkiewicz, Dylan Myers, Iman Abdul, Jessica Jones, Lauren Proda, Amanda Castro-Conroy, Maggie Madere, Amanda Regan, Emily Amadeo and Jonathan Rueda. The show will be directed by Hynes, with stage manager Ashley Nichols, producers Brandi-Leigh Miller and Nilanthi Sangarabalan, costume design by Roman Koster and sound design by Jim Miller.
WHATCo’s 2024 murder mystery production, “Deadly Dessert Championship,” was the winner of the New Jersey Association of Community Theatres (NJACT) 2024 Perry Award for Best Production of an Original Play.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.