Mystery Dinner Theater Comes to Franklin Federated Church

Franklin Federated Church dining hall will be transformed into the luxurious Diamond Café of the Hotel Gem on Saturday, June 10th, at 6:30 p.m., when the church presents New York Dreams, a Mystery Dinner Theater performance and fundraiser for the church. The play is being directed by Pastor Charley Eastman and Produced by Deborah Bergstrom. The cast, all members of the church, includes: Michelle Doucette, Lyn Pickhover, Moe Goulet, Margo Ball, Steve Kinson, Karen and Doug Leenhouts, Carrie Flynn and Larry Childs.
Dinner guests, enjoying a fine meal of Chicken Cordon Bleu, rice pilaf, green beans, Caesar salad, and a chocolate mousse dessert, with hors d’ouerves beforehand, will suddenly be trapped on the hotel’s 35th floor without power. As anxious patrons await their rescue, they experience the amazing revelations of one guest’s new invention. Just as freedom arrives, thievery is discovered. Now they’re trapped again because everyone is a suspect.
“The cast will be sitting at tables in their characters,” says Deborah Bergstrom, Producer. She explains that the entire event is run by many volunteers. The church dining hall, she says, will be painted and thoroughly scrubbed beforehand, and church member Katherin Weir is serving as the event coordinator, transforming the dining room with round tables, new (matching) silverware and decorations. Dinner will also be made by church volunteers, with Mark Van Hyning providing dessert.
This isn’t the first dinner theater show for the Franklin Federated Church.
“We used to do a lot of shows in the church,” says Deborah Bergstrom, Producer, citing Godspell and Sister Act as examples, as well as Christmas shows. Mystery dinners, she says, are “not as expensive as the big shows, but we haven’t done any in the past four or five years, so we thought we’d do something.”
Bergstrom says the church finds the shows through www.theater4church.com for material that is appropriate for church members of all ages. She says the church bought three options this time, with a vote deciding on New York Dreams.
“It’s really coming together,” says Bergstrom. “There’s a lot of funny parts in it. It should be a good time.”
Bergstrom says that, with the help of all the people from the church volunteering for the event, from food, to costumes, they are hoping to sell out at 100 tickets. Tickets are $35 each ($20 for children), and they can be purchased by calling the church at (508) 528-3803. Proceeds will benefit the mission and ministry of the church, which is located at 171 Main Street, Franklin.