'Clue' and dinner: Immersive murder mystery in Charlotte

BLUMENTHAL ARTS

"Clue: Murder on the Menu" is an interactive dining mystery at Blume Studios through Dec. 6.

Clue goes from classic board game to immersive murder mystery.

“Clue: Murder on the Menu” is at Blume Studios, 904 Post St. through Dec. 6. The immersive dining experience brings the game to life through food, cocktails and mystery. Tickets start at $115.65 and are available at blumenthalarts.org. 

This performance takes audiences into Tudor Mansion, beginning with a cocktail hour featuring hors d’oeuvres and drinks where guests can interact with the characters.

“The Clue board game has nine very famous rooms, but we move into an unknown room, which is the banquet hall, which is a larger dining room for a proper three-course meal,” said writer and director Kevin Hammonds. “But unfortunately, at the top of the meal, our host is murdered.”

The evening will include a three-course meal curated by Chef Craig Barbour of Roots Catering. The menu will feature beetroot and filet hors d’oeuvres, seared chicken with sweet corn risotto and a dark chocolate tart, all with seasonal touches throughout.

“We love Charlotte and we love Blumenthal Arts,” Hammonds said of the company, which premiered “The Magician’s Table” last year. “With ‘The Magician's Table,’ we started this new relationship, this very trusting, open, working together relationship where we wanted to do something again.” 

“Clue’s” familiar characters come with the challenge of meeting fans’ expectations while making the characters feel relevant to today and staying true to the original game.

“Trying to balance all those expectations has been the most challenging part,” Hammonds said. “But also, I find when you have challenges, you succeed when you see those challenges as opportunities. That's been the tricky part, but also the fun part.”

Audience involvement is a major part of the experience, as they help determine the murderer and influence how the mystery unfolds every night. That keeps the show fresh for anyone who attends more than once and the interaction between audience and story is what Hammonds sees as the appeal of immersive entertainment.

“Since COVID kept us kind of locked in for so long, once we came out of COVID, I think people have this new kind of desire to kind of have more agency in their entertainment and to take part in it more than just being passive observers,” he said. “I think that's why people love immersive.

“With ‘The Magician’s Table’ and ‘Clue’ and all the other immersive projects that we do, our main focus is how to keep the audience’s agency as focused as possible.”

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