Behind the Scenes: The Making of DBD

I've decided it's time to tell our story, brief as it is up to this point.  Though there's a more detailed history of the producers to be added to this blog, we'll focus today on the history of the dinner theater itself.  And, because our company produces stories in three Acts, I've further decided to tell this story in three Acts as well.  (I'll also use the third person.  Why?  Maybe because it sounds cool; maybe because I'm a Bob Dole fan)

ACT I: Introduction & Prologue
Our story begins simply, with a musician (Miciah Dodge) and an actress (Jori Dodge) doing their best to support and raise their family.  As his day job Miciah worked as a piano teacher; at night he was a Musical Director for various theaters across the Valley.  Jori took care of the lit'luns at home and generally kept the domestic order.  On the weekends, however, both Miciah and Jori had a different job: dinner theater!  Miciah played a pretty mean piano and Jori was a fabulous actress in any role she took (which were most of the roles in the show).  They had a good time doing it and made a little extra money, and what could be more fun than being silly and pretending for a living?  Not much, I think!  But, as all good things must do, this would eventually come to an end.

ACT II: Rising Action
After Miciah being with the dinner theater for over 10 years and about 4 years for Jori, they noticed things starting to head South.  Little problems appeared at first then developed into larger and larger ones, until--after actors leaving, preventable mishaps, and a general lack of management--the two decided to call it quits.  It had been in their minds to start their own company anyway, and finally here was the opportunity!  They'd both learned the business by being involved in all aspects of it (that tends to happen after 10 years or so), and they had some ideas on how it could be improved.  They set out to build the best dinner theater in the Valley; "excellence" would be the keystone in the bridge that would eventually lead to...

ACT III: Climax!
After many, many, many hours and hundreds of thousands of keystrokes in various word processing/spreadsheet programs, Dead By Dessert Dinner Theater was born!  The first order of the day was a business plan which emphasized some of the things they wanted to bring to the business--as well as things that they did not want to bring to it.  Though business plans are a pain in general, the important part of it--Values, Vision, Mission Statement--came easily and further cemented the idea that this one would work. Since then everything came not necessarily easily, but well.  The script was wonderful, auditions were filled with fantastic actors, the host venue (Dave & Busters) turned out even better than they could have hoped.  These are only the highlights, though; everything up 'til now has gone surprisingly well.  The energy, chemistry and elegant simplicity with which everything came together was astounding.

Epilogue (back in first person)
Now only three weeks from our Opening Night, we're terribly excited about the future of this company.  From day one every step we've taken has been a step up, and it feels like the Universe is "pulling" for us.  Even after only three rehearsals the show is funny and interesting, and we have several more to go to polish things up.  We're selling tickets, we've got a pretty massive online presence and our host venue continues to delight us.

Are you interested in seeing the outcome of our efforts?  Come to one of our shows, you won't be disappointed.

Opening Night!

Huge news.  We are officially working with Dave & Buster's!   "The Curse Of The Cat Idol" will open on October 14th. Tickets are $49.95, and can be purchased by calling (623) 332-4012 or clicking here for tickets!

We've got a fantastic dinner lined up for you - your choice of Lemon Grilled Chicken with creamy lemon basil sauce, or Pasta Primavera.  For $2 more you can choose Sirloin Steak! Dinner also comes with Caesar salad, fresh baked rolls and butter, and non-alcoholic beverages including iced tea, coffee, pink lemonade or fountain soda.

At Dead By Dessert, we want nothing more than for you to have a fantastic time at one of our murder mystery dinner shows.  Come out and see us!  We know you're going to love it!

We crowned a winner / Who captured Dead By Dessert / Enjoy your ticket

And the winner of the Dead By Dessert Dinner Theater Haiku Contest is...<drum roll>...IAN DODGE! Congratulations! Your free ticket is good for one full admission to any of our wonderful shows in the months of October or November! Ian's haiku reads...

Ars'nic in the soup
And a freshly sharpened blade
Enjoy your "meatloaf".

Revel in its simplistic splendor...like our logo.

Pics 'n Webs

Photo Shoot
We just had the photo shoot for Dead By Dessert Dinner Theater's first show: "The Curse of the Cat Idol!"  We all had a great time--who wouldn't have fun putting on silly costumes and posing?--and we got some BEAUTIFUL photos, courtesy of Scott Schauer Photography.  They truly represent Dead By Dessert's personality: fun, exciting, beautiful, dynamic, bright, colorful--need I go on?  I'll upload some as soon as I have them here.

Website
Our website, while not complete, is entering its next phase: a splash-page!  That is, Avenue 25 is putting together a single page that establishes our presence on the web as well as gives useful information about our company.  Within the next few weeks we'll have our full-blown website (and I can't even wait!), but until then the splash-page will allow us to begin some important marketing endeavors.  Also, with Avenue 25 on the job, I have 100% confidence that it will be dazzling and delightful.

Voila, Dead By Dessert Dinner Theater's New Logo:

Whadya think?  Let us know!

Calendar Gadget and more...

If you direct your attention over there...

...you may notice our new Calendar Gadget, which displays the events Dead By Dessert Dinner Theater is offering!  It will stay updated, so you can always check here to find out which show is playing.  Or, of course, you can visit our website at www.deadbydessert.com (currently under construction).

ALSO, we have a cast!  Actually, we have 2 casts; we had so many wonderful talents come out to auditions that we just had to cast a bunch of 'em!  These extremely fun and vivacious actors will be gracing our stage mid-October in the best murder mystery dinner theater show you've ever seen!

Stay tuned for more...or at least...y'know, check back here every once in awhile.