Houston stage filled with some special dramas

Middle Georgia will be the site of two great opportunities for live theater in the next two weeks.

The Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame will be presenting its seventh murder mystery dinner theater.

The show is an original production directed, written and produced by Nicole Bissette and Tyler Bryant. Bryant is well known for his drama work with several Middle Georgia theater groups and has written and directed the Hall of Fame show before, while Bissette serves as the director of the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame at the Museum of Aviation.

This year’s show, “A Murdered Mystery,” has characters based on real-life people from the Golden Age of Hollywood: Isadora Duncan, George Reeves, Jayne Mansfield, Jean Harlow, Johnny Stompanato Jr., Peg Entwistle and William Desmond Taylor. Bissette and Bryant have put together a fictional plot — and murder — that the guests at the dinner theater will be able to try to solve by the end of the evening.

The play took a lot of research by Bryant, who researched the costumes, makeup and lives of the characters.

“We came up with the idea of old Hollywood glamor. All the characters are real people from Hollywood that died under mysterious circumstances,” said Bryant.

Bryant said that the characters’ backstories — including the details of their deaths — have been incorporated into the play.

Attendees are encouraged to dress in old Hollywood Glam attire, and there will be a prize for the best dressed at every performance. Attendees are also encouraged to arrive during the social time. According to Bryant, extra hints and clues may be dropped at this time.

The event will be held in the Nugteren Exhibit Hangar (formerly known as Hangar One) at the Museum of Aviation.

“The play has a lot of different twists this year, really a reward for all our long-time patrons. We wanted to keep the audience guessing,” said Bryant.

“A Murdered Mystery” will be performed May 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26. Check in and Social Time starts at 6:45 p.m; the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40, $70 for a couple, and can be purchased at https://shop.museumofaviation.org/products/a-murdered-mystery-dinner-theatre.

Ticket must be purchased in advance. All proceeds benefit the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, located at the Museum of Aviation. Call 478-923-6600 for more information.

The Perry Players Community Theatre will be presenting “Driving Miss Daisy,” as the last show of their 2017-2018 season.

Best known as the basis of the 1989 Oscar-winning movie starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman, the play itself was an award-winning work as well. The Perry Players’ version will be directed by artistic director Hunter Hufnagel. The show stars Cathy Hutto as Miss Daisy Werthan, Royal Jones as Hoke Colburn and Bill O’Neal as Boolie, Miss Daisy’s son.

“Driving Miss Daisy” will be presented by the Perry Players on May 10, 12, 17, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and May 13 and 20 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available through the website www.perryplayers.org. Tickets are $18, $15 for active-duty military, students (with ID) and children.

For more information on “Driving Miss Daisy,” visit www.perryplayers.org or call the box office at 478-987-5354.

Alline Kent can be contacted at allinekent@cox.net.

This story was originally published May 5, 2018 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Houston stage filled with some special dramas."