In addition to their entertainment value, dinner theaters cater to special events — birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. At our local favorites, the food is usually passable, while the musicals are the draw. To these venues, you can now add another choice: The Broker’s hearty menu and the outright silliness of interactive murder mysteries.
“I Love Lucy . . . to Death” (which runs in repertory with “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” on Saturday nights), may not be “Oklahoma” or “The Sound of Music,” but it will get you up out of your chair — after that famous shrimp bowl and a generous entree — into a line dance with Lucy, Ricky, Ethel and Fred, as well as some very suspicious characters, and make you wonder which one killed the wealthy philanthropist, Mrs. Pendalton (Susan Rossman) who was going to help Ricky open his own club.
Rossman’s upper-crust entitlement, with faux fur and elevated American dialect, establishes the setting. It helps that in entering the restaurant, we’ve walked past the lobby of the most ornate, historic bank in Colorado, with a bar in its stunning, grand old vault.
We’re used to being served by actors who, moments before, have thrilled us with a sweet rendition of “On the Street Where You Live” or “Till There Was You,” but it’s a whole different matter when Lucy (Giovanna Leah) and Ethel (Tanya K. Obernyer) come to your table and try to involve you in their shenanigans. We only wish there were more of this as the intrigue progressed.
In an official Lucy wig, wide-eyed and as effervescent as Lucille Ball, Leah’s take on the famous “Vitameatavegamin girl” skit from the TV series is as funny as it was when it first aired in the ’50s. Leah also scores with another old Lucy routine, as a Camp Fire Girl reciting “Hiawatha.”
If it’s Ricky you crave, you’ll sway to Matthew Osmun’s energetic, conga-drum-driven version of “Babalu” as if you were watching the act from your table at the Tropicana (sans palm trees). In fact, it’s rumors about the Tropicana that drive this plot.
While at the Manhattan Women’s Club Charity Dinner, Fred (Peter A. Stone) tells Ricky that he’s learned from the head waiter that the Tropicana is about to close. Fred and Ricky cook up a scheme to raise money. Meanwhile, Lucy shows up, with Ethel (Tanya K. Obernyer) in tow, to audition for the role of the new Vitameatavegamin girl with a famous talent scout at the charity event.
While Stone is not as curmudgeonly as we remember William Frawley’s Fred and Obernyer not as sardonic as Vivian Vance’s Ethel, they are just as good at insulting each other. Dan Berman is Peter Lorre-sinister as Mrs. Pendalton’s executive assistant.
Audience members are recruited to fill key roles — such as the talent scout, a couple of dancers, a policeman and an heiress — and compete for a prize in rendering the most detailed explanation of the crime. One guest, a charming octogenarian, who was celebrating his 60th anniversary with his wife and their family, was moved to sing a bona fide country love song that he wrote for his bride.
There’s no telling what kind of ‘splainin you’ll have to do after hanging out with Lucy.
Bob Bows also reviews theater for KUVO/89.3 FM and for his own website, . He can be reached at bbows@coloradodrama.com.
“I Love Lucy . . . to Death” **1/2 (out of four stars)
Presented by MO Productions at the Broker Restaurant, 821 17th St. Written by Cheryl Lynn. Directed by Matthew D. Osmun. 2 hours. Saturdays only through July 31. “I Love Lucy …” plays June 26, and July 17 and 31. “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” plays June 19, July 10 and 24. Dinner seats at 6 p.m. $50 (includes dinner and tip; drinks extra). 303-292-5065 or or
Menu options
Dinner package includes three courses, a non-alcoholic beverage, tax, and tip: 1. Mixed-field greens salad with balsamic dressing; 2. Choice of
London broil, marinated Kodiak salmon or steakhouse chicken picatta; 3. Chocolate mousse.
