ACTORS WHO WILL PLAY AT THE HOSANNA HOUSE, OCT. 8.
by Genea L. Webb
For New Pittsburgh Courier
Imagine that you walk into your place of employment and see your boss with his face in a bowl of mashed potatoes gripping his trombone in one hand.
That’s the premise behind Stacie Allen’s fourth annual Soul Food Comedy Murder Mystery Show, “Who Killed Lenny Trombone?” set for Saturday, Oct. 8, at Hosanna House, 807 Wallace Ave., Wilkinsburg, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $50, which includes the performance, dinner, dessert and drinks.
Allen first became interested in murder mysteries after watching “Murder on the Orient Express.” She hired a troupe to perform a murder mystery for a work event she was having and noticed that there weren’t any people of color acting in the show and even fewer in the audience.
That’s when the kernel of an idea began to germinate in her mind: have her own mystery dinner theater shows that cater to Blacks.
“I wanted my murder mystery to be different. I’ve always been different,” said Allen, 59, who resides in Verona and works as a financial counselor at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
When her birthday rolled around in 2019, she decided to try out her new endeavor on her friends.
“I had a birthday party at the Indigo Hotel. I got one of the rooms and I created a crime scene. I put clues all over the body and I put crime scene tape all over the room. I let my friends know that they would have to go upstairs into the hotel room and use the clues and solve the mystery,” she recalled. “My friends really enjoyed it and said how much fun it was.”
Several people close to Stacie Allen have been killed by violence. But she didn’t let the tragedies define her.
Despite the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020, Allen still held her murder mystery. “We had a show scheduled for a hotel in Monroeville, but COVID hit, so we rehearsed via Zoom and we just did a free event at Rocks Landing in McKees Rocks to get the word out about what we were doing. We only had about 30 people there and most of them had masks on,” she said.
Last year, Allen, who writes and directs each show but co-produced this year’s show with Carl King, garnered her biggest crowd to date—over 100 people—She’s hoping for an even bigger turnout this Saturday.
“I notice that given any event, people wait until the last minute to buy tickets,” she said.
Still, her team feels this year’s show is the best yet and encourages patrons to grab their tickets soon.
ACTORS WHO WILL PLAY AT THE HOSANNA HOUSE
“This show is my favorite. It is full of hilarity. You’ll be in stitches. Sometimes we catch ourselves laughing in rehearsal,” said Allyson Bonner, Allen’s friend who has been along for the ride since the beginning. “We are like a family; we are all very close. That’s the family that Stacie has built. People should be prepared to come laugh, eat, drink and solve a crime. There is a prize attached and there is also a question-and-answer section.”
Bonner played characters in the first three murder mysteries, but feels she is most beneficial behind the scenes.
“Stacie always has great ideas and when she starts writing, her mind is amazing and I couldn’t not be part of this,”
Bonner continued. “Last year I designed the sets and decorated the hall and I set the stage and made the floral arrangements. It’s her dream and I was willing to help her fulfill that dream.”
Allen’s friend, Cecelia Coleman Finney, who, along with her husband, Henry Finney, will be making her acting debut in this year’s murder mystery, echoed many of Bonner’s sentiments.
“Stacie is a good friend and she asked me to participate and I was thrilled. She’s mature and I like her and I like to support Black businesses,” Coleman Finney said. “Audiences can expect to use their detective skills that they didn’t know they had. They can expect to be stimulated mentally by coming together as one at a table to solve a problem. I’ve never been to a murder mystery dinner. I was planning on coming to this one and she asked me to be in it. After COVID, people need to appreciate life more.”
Allen’s goal one day is to have her own space to hold rehearsals; she currently holds them in her home, at Highland Park, and at local Verona-based businesses in the past. She also hopes to gain a large enough following so that she can be hired to create murder mystery theaters for clients.
“I like to showcase live artists,” said Allen, who created Jazz Bean Entertainment in 2015, a company that hired local bands to perform in various clubs throughout Pittsburgh. “My mystery dinner theater shows are different because I have comedians, actors and singers involved. There are not too many places around like that.”
Tragically, several people close to Allen have been killed by violence— her best friend, two of her brothers and her husband were murdered in the 1990s. She also lost a child. But she didn’t let the tragedies define her. She uses them to create comedic mystery shows.
“I’ve had so much death around me before the age of 40 that I would never be able to write the gory stuff,” she said.
“This gives me some joy and fun with people that I enjoy. I like to write something and see it come to life.”
(Editor’s Note: For more information, including ticket information, call 412-513-7137.)
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