Mystery Café kicked off its 20th season last month with “Night of the Laughing Dead,” an original stage production that boasts dancing zombies, frightening werewolves, ghoulish villains and plenty of opportunities for audience participation. The plot of the show centers on a film crew shooting the fictional movie “Werewolves and Zombies and Potatoes, Oh My!” The audience will be treated to the antics of an eccentric director, a creepy choreographer and a closing-number parody of Michael Jackson’s famous song “Thriller.” Up to 20 audience members are recruited each show to take on roles as part of the film crew or the movie cast, and the rest of the audience can participate by trying to solve the mystery as it unfolds. Producer Bud Godown, who bought Mystery Café five years ago, said the quality of the group’s production as well as its unique brand of humor sets the show apart from other dinner theater experiences. “A lot of dinner theaters nowadays are bang-bang, shoot-shoot, somebody’s dead — it gets a little boring,” Godown said. “We change with the seasons and we’re comedy. We’re Carol Burnette and ‘Saturday Night Live’ put into a dinner theater room.” The show takes place at the Imperial House restaurant at 505 Kalmia St., and a four-course dinner is included in the $59.50 ticket price. The actors pull double duty as the restaurant’s waiters and waitresses before the show and during two intermissions, giving guests a further opportunity to interact with the cast. Gowdown said that “Night of the Laughing Dead” will run at Imperial House as long as there is demand for the show. He is currently working on logistics for Mystery Café’s summer show, which runs Wednesdays and Thursdays in July and August at the Bahia Hotel. He will also be expanding the Mystery Café business by opening a takeout sandwich shop in the theater’s box office in La Mesa this year. MYSTERY CAFE DINNER THEATRE Imperial House Restaurant · 505 Kalmia St. Fridays and Saturdays · Tickets: $59.50 (includes four-course meal) (619) 460-2200 www.mysterycafe.net
