Comedic murder mystery dinner will feature auction 8/6/2008 9:51 PM 
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By RACHEL JOHNSON
Staff writer
Don't miss the mystery of the season at the Tonylou Awards or your chance to star in your own murder mystery.
Tickets are selling fast and just a few spots remain, so reserve seats today to help solve the case at Aiken's murder mystery dinner Friday and Saturday.
A veteran cast and a comical script combine as the prime ingredients as the Aiken Downtown Development Association (ADDA) and the Aiken Community Playhouse (ACP) collaborate on their third annual Murder Mystery Dinner Theater.
"Murder at the Tonylou Awards" will be held this Friday and Saturday at Newberry Hall in downtown Aiken. Thurmond Whatley serves as the director of the spoof of the venerable televised awards show. The evening will feature a red-carpet entrance, commercial breaks, non-stop laughs and suspense.
"There is a lot more than a joke a minute built into the plot," Whatley said. "This mystery is more heavily character driven than many presentations. It's the awards show live telecast where anything can happen and strange situations occur left and right."
Both the Friday and Saturday performances will feature a live auction for audience members to bid on a murder mystery dinner party of their own. For the winners, there will be no cooking, cleaning or entertaining; all they will need to do is simply invite the guests and leave the rest to the professionals. The grand prize of a murder mystery dinner theater for eight will be auctioned live on Friday night by auctioneer Skipper Perry and on Saturday by auctioneer Michael Smart. Bring top-notch bidding skills and win the party of the year.
Each night of the presentation accommodates around 200 people and reservations should be made in advance as the performances are selling out quickly. Tickets for the performances are $50 each, which includes dinner with a cash bar. Proceeds from the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater benefit all activities of the ADDA, such as the Downtown After Six events and Holly Days. It also allows the ADDA to continue to fulfill its mission statement to improve the economic vitality, enhance the beauty and preserve the historical inheritance of the downtown area.
To purchase tickets or for more information, call the ADDA Office in The Alley at 649-2221.
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