AND YES WE REALLY TRY TO DO NEW SHOWS EACH TIME

Recently, we received this email:

"Hello, my name is XXXX and we went to your Valentines show at Ricardos last year. We had a great time and were looking to go again this year. My question to you is if it is the same exact show as last year or if it is a little different this year. Of Course we enjoyed the show very much, however, would prefer to see a little difference, so that it is interesting for us. 

Thank you in advance for your reply. 

Best, 

XXXX"

Our answer: we try to rotate casts, we really do create new shows each time (or refine and rewrite one that was done earlier) because we do our best to do make sure you see a brand new show each time. And we're lucky: everyday in the news, we find plenty of new material!

NEXT SHOW AT MAGGIANO'S

Of course, now currently being written to incorporate recent headline news in baseball!

OSCAR TONIGHT!

And watching one of the nominated films right now as one of the March shows will be based on it.

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY

So looking forward to Tim Burton’s "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and to see how it can be parodied into a show later this year.

CASTING AND WRITING

Casting November shows, writing next week shows - that's my Saturday night!

PROUD MEMBER

It's all about the script - what makes a good play, a good film, etc. I try hard: many scripts have gone through over a dozen drafts. For me, the secret of good writing is rewriting. I have written many plays that were produced here in New York and around the country and I am a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. The skills I have learned in playwriting, and continue to learn, have been invaluable to me in creating these interactive shows.

SURVIVED IRENE

And hope all of you are safe too. As the "hurricane blogs" demonstrate, murder mystery and/or mystery stories can be about anything.

AND ON TO AUGUST 20

The script is done and in the hands of the cast.

ALMOST FINISHED

With the script for the August 20 show.

PARODY OR INFRINGEMENT?

Here's an interesting article on certain dinner theater companies describing a situation we always try to avoid - as some companies perform continuous productions based on popular TV series, The Killing Kompany does not, performing a brand new show each time.

TV Dinner Theater: Parodies of Old Sitcoms Draw Blood, Crowds - Fans Dig 'Gilligan's Island…of Death,' Copyright Owners, Not So Much.

APRIL CASTS ARE DONE

So I am off writing the April shows.

IT'S A MYSTERY?

A good portion of the plot of our show on February 19 was just revealed yesterday - 4 days after the performance of "Murder At The Oscars" at The Views At Mt. Fuji (which could have also been titled "Black Swan" meets "Oscar's New Co-Hosts" meets "Ricky Gervais At The Golden Globes".

Perhaps some of you read the headline and story in many of yesterday's papers: "Hosts: No 'Gervaising' at Oscars".

This has happened before: I write a show and the plot makes the headline a few days later and I am asked - how did you know this was going to happen? And the only answer I can give is one of my favorite lines from the film "Shakespeare In Love".........."It's a mystery".

And that's part of the reason why I enjoy writing a new show each time.

FEBRUARY 18 SCRIPT COMPLETE

Script to go to out to cast today.

HOSTING A MURDER MYSTERY EVENT

Here's an interesting article that was sent to us recently:

How To Organise a Ticketed Public Murder Mystery Dinner

It is from the UK and there is one line from the article that I think is an absolute must:

"Hosting a successful murder mystery party requires good organisation, professionalism, a well-crafted script and professional actors."

Recently, I saw on TCM (they have their "31 Days of Oscar" schedule right now) a trailer for William Wyler's "The Heiress" which had several portions declaring - "What makes a great film? The cast, the director and the story!"

GETTING READY FOR A PRIVATE SHOW....

.....but still waiting for information. The shows I create are custom created and there is information I need from the client to write an appropriate show. I usually ask for this information at least two weeks prior to the show but sometimes, it doesn't come in. But if there is a website or other information I can find on the Internet, I can write the show. This is the questionnaire I give everyone so I can write the show:

"It’s time to start planning your murder mystery event. This is the fun part...We're going to make some of you guest suspects! Don't worry, you don't need to learn any lines or do anything other than be yourself and have fun! We want you to pick out 15men and 15 women as guest suspects (note: they won’t all be suspects - we pick out from the group you give us). Pick people who you think are fun and who are known to many of the audience members.

1. First and last name of each guest suspect and a brief description: married or single, residence, position and any amusing story about them that is known to just about all who attend.

2. Letterhead from the senior ranking guest suspects who will be attending.

3. Business cards (one or two) from guest suspects

4. Some pictures (one or two) of guest suspects.

5. Some info on your group, what it does, recent events, amusing stories, “buzz words”, key phrases or slogans, etc. If there's a web site with all this information, give us the URL. And if the event is to celebrate a certain person, give us as much information on that person as you can.

As soon as you can get us this information, the better. Especially the items in paragraph “5” as that will help us get an idea of the theme of your show. You can email the information to us (our email address is on top), mail it to us at c/o Jon Avner, 21 Turn Lane, Levittown, NY 11756 or fax it to us at 212 202-6495

PLEASE NOTE: IF THERE IS ANY ITEM, INFORMATION OR TOPIC YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE INCORPORATED OR PRESENTED DURING THE SHOW, YOU MUST LET US KNOW.

PLEASE NOTE: WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION YOU GIVE US, WE ONLY USE WHAT WE FEEL IS RELEVANT TO THE STORY AND WE DO NOT REVEAL TO ANY THIRD PARTIES ANY CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OR INFORMATION!

If you have any questions, call us."

HINT FOR OCTOBER 9 SHOW

It deals with a celebrity father/daughter scandal but there are so many? Which one?

THE FINAL TOUCHES FOR OCTOBER 2 SHOW

So due to changes in the news, etc., I had to make some changes to the script but the outline will be sent to other actors (hopefully by tonight) and on with next weeks show.

PRIVATE EVENTS MEAL PLANS

This is a common question when inquiries are made by clients. And the answer is..........whatever you want. I have been able to create shows with these type of meal plans: 1. From 1 - 6 course meals; 2. Buffet or served; 3. BBQ; 4. Pizza or subs (heros, sandwiches, etc.); 5. No meal; 6. Cocktails and appetizers - the list is endless. Because the shows are custom created, The Killing Kompany can work within whatever meal plan you wish.

I WISH I KEPT THAT PLOT....

It's really like starting over. One new venue coming up, contract should be in soon. And a new private show came in. Plus I am up dating the advertising so it will appear in Queens Courier and Anton Newspapers.

TODAY I WRITE THIS SHOW

I had a draft of it earlier but I lost it - I do remember the basic plot. Just have to come up with new jokes.