2008/09 - Hunt Mysteries

More Mystery On The Moors at the Shalamar

Joyce Gunther as Dr. Watson

We recently developed some old film we found in our paraphanalia, and two of the 35mm rolls developed are of "More Mystery On The Moors," by Laura Bedore. The performances were some of the last at the Shalamar in Hollady before it was sold and turned into a church.

Gary Thompson as Sherluck Homes.

The film was obviously old and not digital, so the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but they are interesting none the less. We had quite the cast. Please tag everyone you know!

Emily Decker and Dan Naranjo 

Erica Bryce

Elizabeth Ann Boggess-Hales as Inga Strycknine

Emily Decker with dinner guests

Elizabeth Ann Boggess-Hales and Gary Thompson

Gary Thompson with guests

Emily Decker with dinner guests

Joyce Gunther and Gary Thompson with dinner guests

Emily Decker tells her story to dinner guest

Gary Thompson as Sherluck Homes conducts his investigation with dinner guests

Producer and Hunt Mysteries owner W. Lee Hunt with Dan Naranjo as Maxwell DeWintergreen

Erica Bryce tells her story to dinner guests.

Actor _____ as Henry Heath and Elizabeth Ann Boggess-Hales as Inga.

Emily Decker and Dan Naranjo

Emily Decker and Dan Naranjo

Gary Thompson and Joyce Gunther

Elizabeth Ann Boggess-Hales and Gary Thompson

The cast of "More Mystery On The Moors"

The cast of "More Mystery On The Moors"

Guests thank guests at end of dinner show.

Cast in show finale

Cast in show finale

Dan Naranjo with dinner guests.

Emily Decker with dinner guests at the Shalamar.

Emily Decker with dinner guests at the Shalamar.

Emily Decker with dinner guests during sleuthing part of the show.

Erica Bryce is questioned by the guests.

Dinner guests listen to a "suspect." Dan Naranjo is in background.

A Halloween wrap -- and two November openings

After a hauntingly fun and successful Halloween season, Hunt Mysteries launches two musical comedy murder mystery dinner theater productions: “Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper” and “Hammer Spade & the Steel Murder.”



For the Halloween season between the two openings on Oct. 8 and the closings on Oct. 30th, more than 2,100 attended either "Wacky Witch's Wedding" or "Gravestoned: All Men Are CREMATED Equal." Many guests attended both dinner shows.
There were 23 Halloween shows performed during that span, with an average of more than 90 guests per show.


Guests came mostly from all along Utah's Wasatch Front & Back but also Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, New York, South Dakota, Ohio, Texas and even Canada.

“Get a Clue’ opens Nov. 5 at Spaghetti Mama’s at Jordan Commons, 75 East 9400 South, Sandy, UT 84070, just northeast of The Mayan and the Megaplex 16 theater complex. “Hammer Spade” opens Nov. 6 also at Spaghetti Mama’s.
Other performances are scheduled through January at Spaghetti Mama’s and at Boccias D’Italia, 1045 North Washington Blvd., Harrisville, UT 84404, include the following:
11/05/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper
11/06/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Hammer Spade: The Steel Murder
11/12/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper
11/20/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper
11/20/2010 Boccias D'Italia Hammer Spade: The Steel Murder
12/02/2010 Spaghetti Mama’s Hammer Spade: The Steel Murder
12/03/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper
12/04/2010 Boccias D'Italia Get a Clue: The $tocks Caper
12/10/2010 Boccias D'Italia Hammer Spade: The Steel Murder
12/18/2010 Spaghetti Mama's Hammer Spade: The Steel Murder
Doors open and actors begin mingling at 7 p.m.
Show tickets are $15.00 per person in November and January, and $17.50 in December. Tickets for children 12 and under are $10 in November and January and $12.50 in December.
Both venues will offer separate food and beverage service during each performance. Once seated, guests can order from Spaghetti Mama's or Boccias special Hunt Mysteries menu, including a full line of beverages. Guests pay the venue separately for any food and beverages.
Book online at www.huntmysteries.com or via phone at 866-569-1482. Use Discount Code hmblog for $2.50 off per person.
In “Get a Clue,” stockholder in Atlas Inc., are guests at the specially convened Atlas Inc. stockholders meeting, where the founder and CEO Simon Lively is expected to reveal the reasons behind the sudden session. Many outside experts are speculating that Lively plans to address the recent secret advances at Atlas Robotics. But there are rumblings of discontent among many stockholders, including former employees and family members! Among those expected or unexpectedly to attend are Professor Prune, a former Atlas Robotics inventor extraordinaire who’s best friend is now Mr. Jack Daniel; Mrs. Peahen, Lively’s ex-wife who bares her claws at him but chirps sweet nothings to others; Col. Dijon, the world traveler and deep-sea treasure hunter who has spread himself thin financially but has always been able to get out of a jam; Mr. Mauve Green, the young master of Wall Street takeovers, is rumored to plan a “discreet appearance”; Rose Redd, who needs little introduction – her name says it all – she’s devilishly hot! Also, Miss Blanc, Simon’s French maid, will be in attendance to attend to Lively and his guests.
In “Hammer Spade,” the 1940s throwback to Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon has a dark shadow hanging over his past that haunts him to this day.
Included in that shady past is Beryl Goldwater, a tough woman who's climbed the ladder of success all the way to the U.S. Senate. Now Hammer finds himself caught between a rock and a Steel case -- the murder case of one, Stanislaus Steel, a mountain of a man who charmed his way from handling scary explosives to a safe and secure marriage to the wealthy heiress Parker Poise.
As part of hammer's sleuthing, he confronts Steel's very personal assistant, Artemis Hunter, and Steel's playboy brother-in-law, Standish Poise. Get ready to help Hammer bring down the hammer on the guilty in "Hammer Spade & The Steel Murder."
Next April, Hunt Mysteries will celebrate 20 years of doing shows throughout Utah and the Mountain West.

2 Halloween shows equal treats galore; only 3 more shows not sold out

Halloween 2010 has been a blast! So many performances sold out -- and so many great responses and memories!
In fact, there are only three shows not sold out: Oct. 28th at Spaghetti Mama's, Sandy, UT, for "Gravestoned: All Men Are CREMATED Equal" and Oct. 28th and 30th at The Castle in Layton, UT, for "Wacky Witch's Wedding."
Over the past three weeks, Hunt Mysteries has performed 17 shows and entertained more than 1,500 guests, including several employee company groups such as American Express, Carson Elevator, Viranum and PlatinumProtect.
One company, who enjoyed a night out with "Which Witch Is the Head Witch?" in 2009, booked a performance of "Wacky Witch's Wedding" this October at The Marriott in Salt Lake.










The coordinator for the company emailed us the next day:
"We had a "WONDERFUL" time!!! The interaction with your group and our group was so much fun to watch! I have heard nothing but positive comments about the whole evening! This was the first time many of our employees have attended a presentation by your group and they definitely want to attend another one!
Keep up the great work! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!"
Here's an email thanks from a guest at "Gravestoned: All Men Are CREMATED Equal" who brought 31 friends and family, including 18 kids, to our show Oct. 18th:
"Everyone had a really good time! It was pretty funny when Semore had two little girls at one of my tables crying because they were so scared of him. I had to laugh because my kids were a lot younger and didn't cry."
Thanks again for everything!!! My husband and I are excited to see more shows very soon!"
I talked with the actor later about that incident, and he said he really tried to tone his character down for all the kids! The actor's portrayal reminded me of
Johnny Depp and his crazy characters!
Having repeat customers is a treat! We love to visit with them! Here's a little story about becoming super sleuths:
When I attended the Sept. 11th performance of "The Altos: A Little Lower Than the Sopranos" at Spaghetti Mama's in Sandy, I sat at the table with a mother from Tooele and her three children. It was their first experience with Hunt Mysteries and murder mystery dinner theater. They weren't quite sure about all the ins and outs of the mystery but gradually warmed up as the actors visited our table and especially after opening scene and later the "comedy murder." By the end of the evening, the mother and her kids were all hooked! They were excited when I told them about our upcoming Halloween show at Mama's, "Gravestoned: All Men Are CREMATED Equal."








(Photo by Beth Bruner)
On Oct. 16th, I attended "Gravestoned" show at Mama's and that same guest from Tooele was there -- but with her husband -- for a night out! They had a great time. I told them after the show that they really should take their children to "Wacky Witch's Wedding" in Ogden before all the shows were sold out!
A week later at the Oct. 23rd matinee of "Wacky Witch's Wedding" at Boccias, that whole Tooele family was there. I seldom get the chance to actually attend a show, so it was very unusual that I would be at all the three same performances and even be able to speak with members of that same family.
But the real kicker to the story is that when the three main prizes were drawn from the hat from among all the correct answers at the conclusion of "Wacky Witch's Wedding" that afternoon, the names of those children from that same Tooele family were announced, one by one, as prize winners!
Yes, it was just luck of the draw that they won prizes, but it was more than that! They had learned how to play the Hunt Mysteries game -- so that their answer forms ended up in the hat at the end of the hunt!
At one of the other "Wacky Witch's Wedding" performances at Boccias, a young man, probably about 14, agreed to play a short part as the "werewolf" in the "Dating Game" segment for "Gigi," the beautiful young eligible witch. When it came time to howl, he could barely get out a squeak. Drac, in his best Count Dracula voice, piped up: "Perhaps this werewolf needs to go through puberty, first" -- and the audience howled with laughter!
We would love to hear from other guests who had the chance to attend our Halloween shows and hear their stories!
Want a discount to the three remaining Halloween shows? Use hmcastle for $3.00 off per person for Oct. 28 & 30th shows; use hmmamas for $2.50 off per person for Oct. 28th show.
And remember, two other shows open in November at both Spaghetti Mama's in Sandy and Boccias D'Italia in Ogden area. They are "Hammer Spade&the; Steel Murder" and "Get A Clue: The $tocks Caper."