Last chance to solve a murder — or two

An abundance of events is scheduled on this third weekend in May. Here’s a bit of the scuttlebutt.

Comic Confusions

The Backlot Players are staging “Rumors,” the Neil Simon comedy that USA Today described as “not only side splitting, but front and back splitting.”

The play, which is set in 1988 during a 10th anniversary dinner at a home in New York, begins as the first guests arrive. They discover that their hosts — the Deputy Mayor of New York and his wife who, by the way, the audience never sees — are nowhere to be found. They quickly realize that the husband is upstairs and has made an unsuccessful attempt at suicide, which surprisingly sets big laughs in motion as more guests arrive and the story unfolds.

Neil Simon wrote “Rumors,” his first farce, as a cathartic exercise during a difficult time in his life. The action in this work is frantic, the dialogue is full of word play, and there are cover-ups, deceptions, mistaken identities, and a lot of huge laughs.

“The simplest aspect of farce is (that) you need a lot of doors,’’ Simon said in a 1988 interview. “And you need people to go running in and out of them, just missing each other. … Everybody in the play has to be in trouble. … And so I had to keep all the characters in jeopardy.”

See the hilarious “Rumors” at the Rose Theater in Forsyth at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, or catch the last performance at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, visit thebacklotplayers.org.

Happy Anniversary

Amanda’s Cakery is celebrating its seventh anniversary! Stop by their Cotton Avenue storefront between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday for a free cupcake — truly one of Macon’s most delectable treats. Congratulations and thanks for sharing the love, AC!

Last Chance

This is the last weekend to experience “Murder in Sin City,” the interactive dinner theater that benefits the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Dress in your very best showgirl, Elvis impersonator or Vegas high roller outfit, and enjoy the murder-mystery fun at the Museum of Aviation on Friday and Saturday evenings. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are required in advance; get them by calling 478-328-0704, or by visiting museumofaviation.org

Family Fun

The Museum of Arts and Sciences’ presents its 61st annual Pet Show — the longest running event in the museum’s history — at Coliseum Northside Hospital on Sunday.

The Freedom Fidos, a nonprofit organization that provides service dogs to disabled veterans and disadvantaged children at no cost, will entertain the crowd with a free show. And your furry family members get to compete in the signature Pet Contest (registration begins at 2 p.m. and judging at 3 p.m.). Learn more at masmacon.org.