‘Whodunnit?’

“Who done it?”

That was the question the members of the Communion of Saints Catholic Community had to answer Friday, March 31 as they were entertained with a Murder Mystery by the Murders 4 Fun Theater Company.

St. Ann Catholic Church of Janesville was the host of the murder mystery event in their parish center. About 120 people from the St. Ann, St. Joseph (Waldorf), and All Saints (New Richland) Catholic Churches attended the event.

The theme for this murder mystery was the “Murder at the Casino.” The plot was that a company was to tear down the St. Ann Parish Center and rebuild it as a simple poker parlor…or a major casino, depending on which character was talking.

The basic plot of the murder mystery is always decided ahead of time by Murders 4 Fun director Paul Warshauer. However, the actors — which are often from the local area — do not get their roles and lines until a few hours before the show. Even then, their lines are pretty flexible, and the actors greatly improvise their roles.

Before every show, the actors go out into the audience and introduce themselves as their characters, so that everyone can get a true feel for their character.

It is the job of the audience to figure out who the murderer is. The rules are there can only be one victim and one murderer, so as Warshauer points out to the audience, it cannot be a conspiracy (more than one murder) or a team effort.

Becca Kuehn, the Communion of Saints faith coordinator, had a very convenient connection with Murders 4 Fun. “My parents are actually the co-owners,” she said.

That being said, it took months of planning to get it all together. “It still took a while to have it set up, get all the volunteers rounded up, and bring this to life,” she explained.

The Janesville area has been no stranger for Murders 4 Fun. Last year, they had a murder mystery at the Indian Island Winery.

“It’s great getting to do what we do,” Warshauer said. “We’re always well received around here.”

The players and their roles were as follows: Becky Sea as Mayor Wilma Flipflappah; Paul Henning as G. Gordon Piddley (Mayor’s Chief of Staff); Patrick Leigh as the Don Dom D. Dahmdan (acting as the construction boss); Ethan Becker as the Don’s enforcer and subcontractor Boobles D. Henchman; Mystique Deegan as the don’s secretary and interior decorator Trixie DeLighté; Laureli McDuffie as Lotta Casch, daughter of the late, rich Big Daddy Casch; and Tony Palescotti as boy genius Sam “Smarty” Pahnts.

During the murder mystery night, the attendants had a shrimp dinner and a cash bar. After the program, they held a brief live and silent auction.

All the proceeds went to the Communion of Saints formation fund. The fund helps the tri-parish community afford retreats for confirmation students as well as provide for other activities such as movie nights.