Murder mystery dinner theater set at VBT Community Center

Enjoy food, fun, and an audience-interactive murder mystery as Van Buren Community Players present “Murder at the Pie Auction” March 8 and 9 at the VBT Community Center’s Black Box Theater.
The murder mystery has a cast of ten, directed by Emily Lange and assistant director Chandler Gimson.
“It has been an immense pleasure working with the incredibly creative and talented cast and crew of ‘Murder at the Pie Auction!’ said director Lange. “This who-done-it farce is filled with puns, drama and pie-related humor that will be sure to have you laughing out of your seat! I can’t wait to see you there!”
The cast includes Jill Yob of VBT as Phoebe, Beverly Porter of VBT as Minaret, Rees Scott of VBT as Felicity, Andrea VanDenBergh of VBT as Mark, Benjamin Albovias of Farmington Hills as Rex, Wendy Albers of Willis as Julia, Max Wray of New Hudson as Eve, Alex Zahara of Plymouth as Roger, Tim Brunett of Canton as Guy and Sherrie Saksewski of VBT as Eunice.
After years of trying unsuccessfully, the small town of Mynute, Alaska, finally lands the famous Mother Mabel’s Pie Baking Competition. The contest looks to be a disaster with no media or publicity.
To add to the tension, one of the contestants is writing a tell-all book about the steamy side of competitive pie baking. Making matters even worse, just hours before the competition begins, someone goes missing. Find out who when the characters turn on each other as they try to uncover this mystery.
There will be a special “pie” fundraiser for the robotics teams at McBride Middle School and Belleville High School.
There are a limited number of seats per performance. The show includes a real, live pie auction. Bring cash to participate in the auction. Proceeds of the pie auction will go toward the expenses for the show.
The buffet menu, provided by Norman Catering, will include: mixed greens salad (GF, VEG), beef braised pot roast, veggie rice pilaf (GF, VEG), garlic mashed potatoes (GF, VEG), brown gravy, mixed vegetable medley (GF, VEG), buttery yeast rolls (VEG), coffee, water and lemonade.
Performances are Saturday, March 8, with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 9, with dinner at 1 p.m. and the show at 2 p.m. at the VBT Community Center, 46425 Tyler Rd., VBT. All tickets are pre-sale only and must be ordered by March 1. There will not be tickets sold at the door. Tickets are not refundable.
Tickets to the performance are $42-$46 each and can be purchased online at https://vanburentwp.recdesk.com/Community/Program, or in person at the Community Center desk, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. For ticket assistance by phone, call (734) 699-8921.
For more information on this show and all upcoming shows, see www.vanburencommunityplayers.com .