Murder Mystery Dinner Theater


murder mystery dinner theater, murder mystery play, team building, parties, mystery dinner, murder dinner, party, san francisco, sacramento, san jose, Recommended Banquet Seating for Mystery Dinner Shows TWO GOLDEN RULES for setting up Mystery Dinners: Yardstick Rule: at least 36" of space behind each chair and the next nearest chair back, wall, or support column. Note-Taking Rule: Allow 6" space between place settings so guests can jot notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports. ABOVE: Smaller sized group of 36 guests. Note the comfortable spacing of only 6 persons per table. You need to know the round table diameters at your banquet venue first before deciding on how many tables you will need. Round top tables most often range from 44", to 60" to 72". Double-check what sizes your venue uses. ABOVE: Slightly larger group of 49 guests. Note the only difference in this seating layout is the addition of ONE GUEST MORE per table. As long as there is still a comfortable space of 6" between place settings, the above layout is okay. ABOVE: Large group of 105 guests. An additional pair of PA speakers may be needed to disperse the sound of the actor's dialogue more evenly around the room at a lower volume. This "7 TOP" setup is comfortable as long as the table diameter is 72", OR as long as there is still a comfortable space of 6" between place settings. ABOVE: Largest seating layout with 147 guests. We recommend no larger than about 175 guests in order to ensure the intimacy of the mystery play. However, larger groups are possible with a few upgrades of Audio-Visual equipment and more support personnel to operate small pinspot lights and live video camera playback on one or more Big Screens projectors. Photo comparisons between Good and Bad Table Setups . . . First photos show BAD examples for mystery dinner setups. The second group of photos show GOOD set up examples. BAD Table Setup below: Here is a BAD EXAMPLE of banquet seating that is WAY TOO TIGHT!! In the first photo of cream white linens, there are several problems: 1) Actor's won't be able to move, 2) Waiters will be bumping into the backs of guests heads and chairs throughout entire dinner, 3) Guests will get claustrophobic after an hour, and 4) There is no room to write notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports. MORE BAD EXAMPLES: The red chair setups below are how MANY banquet rooms set their tables. See how crowded and uncomfortable the guests will be? They can't even get in or out of their chairs without making guests on either side have to move their chairs, knees and legs. There is no room between place settings, and no 6" space between place settings to take notes on their 6" X 9" detective reports. The third photo (center below) shows a bar setup eating up space dead center in the room. This is fine for regular functions, but it is WRONG for a murder mystery dinner! The bar should be at one end of the room or the other. Your guests need to all feel like they are part of the same group and they should not be split up by a bar or a dance floor. If your guests are separated, a strange phenomenon takes place: one side of the room feels left out of the action and so they begin gabbing at various tables. This will distract the rest of the guests from being able to hear the actors. It's all about group psychology and we have seen this happen many times. Ironically, most banquet managers are not aware of this aspect of our audiences. BELOW LEFT: Photos below don't work for a successful mystery show. The little tables stretched out into a long row alienate the guests and actors will be hard to see and hear. RIGHT: Conference tables don't work well. All you see mostly is the ear of the person on your right or left side; not the actor's faces! BELOW=BAD: Avoid using Tall Top cocktail tables or rectangle tables for Murder Mystery dinners. Tall tops seat the guests too high in the room. You can only fit 2 or 3 place settings per table, plus the tall stools means that your guests cannot see through all the other heads in the room when they look to see which actor is speaking. Rectangle banquet tables block the view of guests trying to look left or right at the actors seated on the same side of the table they are at. Rectangle tables mean that all your guests will be looking at the ears of their neighbor sitting on either side of them. BELOW=GOOD!! Here are GOOD EXAMPLES of banquet seating that is comfortable for a murder mystery dinner setting. This will set the perfect mood for a great show! ABOVE: The seating and table layout is good, although the ceiling lighting was actually brighter and more functional during the Mystery Play so that all the guests could see the actor's faces as well as be able to see the notes on detective reports they were writing. Thos photo was taken after the room lights were dimmed for a Live Variety Act that performed after the mystery play ended. ABOVE: Both of these room setups are okay for a smaller styled mystery dinner to take place. In cases where rectangle tables have to used with 30 or less guests, then the inside chairs closest to the middle aisle can be more sparsely spread out, since most people don't want to have to keep turning around 180 degrees to see what's going on behind them. Photo on right side is a perfect setting for a small party of 40 or less guests. www.mudercapers.com Copyright 2011 by Murder Capers. All Rights Reserved.

murder mystery dinner theater, murder mystery play, team building, parties, mystery dinner, murder dinner, party, san francisco, sacramento, san jose,

Recommended Banquet Seating for Mystery Dinner Shows

TWO GOLDEN RULES for setting up Mystery Dinners:

Yardstick Rule: at least 36" of space behind each chair and the next nearest chair back, wall, or support column.

Note-Taking Rule: Allow 6" space between place settings so guests can jot notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports.

ABOVE: Smaller sized group of 36 guests. Note the comfortable spacing of only 6 persons per table. You need to know the round table diameters at your banquet venue first before deciding on how many tables you will need. Round top tables most often range from 44", to 60" to 72". Double-check what sizes your venue uses.

ABOVE: Slightly larger group of 49 guests. Note the only difference in this seating layout is the addition of ONE GUEST MORE per table. As long as there is still a comfortable space of 6" between place settings, the above layout is okay.

ABOVE: Large group of 105 guests. An additional pair of PA speakers may be needed to disperse the sound of the actor's dialogue more evenly around the room at a lower volume. This "7 TOP" setup is comfortable as long as the table diameter is 72", OR as long as there is still a comfortable space of 6" between place settings.

ABOVE: Largest seating layout with 147 guests. We recommend no larger than about 175 guests in order to ensure the intimacy of the mystery play. However, larger groups are possible with a few upgrades of Audio-Visual equipment and more support personnel to operate small pinspot lights and live video camera playback on one or more Big Screens projectors.



Photo comparisons between Good and Bad Table Setups . . .

First photos show BAD examples for mystery dinner setups.

The second group of photos show GOOD set up examples.

BAD Table Setup below: Here is a BAD EXAMPLE of banquet seating that is WAY TOO TIGHT!! In the first photo of cream white linens, there are several problems: 1) Actor's won't be able to move, 2) Waiters will be bumping into the backs of guests heads and chairs throughout entire dinner, 3) Guests will get claustrophobic after an hour, and 4) There is no room to write notes down on 6" X 9" detective reports.

MORE BAD EXAMPLES: The red chair setups below are how MANY banquet rooms set their tables. See how crowded and uncomfortable the guests will be? They can't even get in or out of their chairs without making guests on either side have to move their chairs, knees and legs. There is no room between place settings, and no 6" space between place settings to take notes on their 6" X 9" detective reports.

The third photo (center below) shows a bar setup eating up space dead center in the room. This is fine for regular functions, but it is WRONG for a murder mystery dinner! The bar should be at one end of the room or the other. Your guests need to all feel like they are part of the same group and they should not be split up by a bar or a dance floor. If your guests are separated, a strange phenomenon takes place: one side of the room feels left out of the action and so they begin gabbing at various tables. This will distract the rest of the guests from being able to hear the actors. It's all about group psychology and we have seen this happen many times. Ironically, most banquet managers are not aware of this aspect of our audiences.





BELOW LEFT: Photos below don't work for a successful mystery show. The little tables stretched out into a long row alienate the guests and actors will be hard to see and hear. RIGHT: Conference tables don't work well. All you see mostly is the ear of the person on your right or left side; not the actor's faces!



BELOW=BAD: Avoid using Tall Top cocktail tables or rectangle tables for Murder Mystery dinners. Tall tops seat the guests too high in the room. You can only fit 2 or 3 place settings per table, plus the tall stools means that your guests cannot see through all the other heads in the room when they look to see which actor is speaking. Rectangle banquet tables block the view of guests trying to look left or right at the actors seated on the same side of the table they are at. Rectangle tables mean that all your guests will be looking at the ears of their neighbor sitting on either side of them.



BELOW=GOOD!! Here are GOOD EXAMPLES of banquet seating that is comfortable for a murder mystery dinner setting. This will set the perfect mood for a great show!

ABOVE: The seating and table layout is good, although the ceiling lighting was actually brighter and more functional during the Mystery Play so that all the guests could see the actor's faces as well as be able to see the notes on detective reports they were writing. Thos photo was taken after the room lights were dimmed for a Live Variety Act that performed after the mystery play ended.



ABOVE: Both of these room setups are okay for a smaller styled mystery dinner to take place. In cases where rectangle tables have to used with 30 or less guests, then the inside chairs closest to the middle aisle can be more sparsely spread out, since most people don't want to have to keep turning around 180 degrees to see what's going on behind them. Photo on right side is a perfect setting for a small party of 40 or less guests.

www.mudercapers.com Copyright 2011 by Murder Capers. All Rights Reserved.