The dinner theater murder mystery show, “Movie Mayhem: The Final Take,” hosted by Cal High’s drama class last month was a smash hit.

I noticed upon entering the dining room at Crow Canyon Country Club on Oct. 27 that the actors were milling about among the crowd.

I thought this a bit odd, but then again I’d never been to a dinner theatre.

I immersed myself in the improvisational environment in which all of the student actors were mingling with the audience throughout the play.

All of the actors were into their characters like Ben Tru DaMill (sophomore Bryce Woodward), a serious, professional film director. I was able to talk to each one to figure out the nature of each character and whether they seemed capable of murder.

After all, this was a murder mystery.

With the lights everywhere but the “stage” and the tables dimmed, the show opened as actor Holly Wood (sophomore Kimya Shokri) took the stage as the character Heather with a member of the audience, her supposed date.

Actor Brad Pitiful (sophomore Vincent Egawa), playing Jake, ran on stage appalled that Heather had a different date.  He grabbed another audience member and put a knife to her throat, threatening to kill her  unless Heather came back to him.

A sequence of events ensued that ended with a knife in Jake’s stomach and his dying words, “I love you Holly.”

Ben Tru DaMill abruptly cut the scene, angry at Brad for messing up his lines. Love triangles ensued in the cast of the in-play movie shooting.

To further complicate matters the story weaves in an angry diva, Glen Closeup (sophomore Courtney Haynes), and a completely incapable boom grip/assistant, Dexter Dimwhitte (sophomore Ashton May).

Other characters include the camera man, Otto Focas (sophomore Sam Gershik), Glen Closup’s assistant (sophomore Raz Mostaghimi), two prima donna designers, Maybelle Leen (junior Kirsten Trout) and Ima Seamstress (sophomore Amy Oei), two bartenders (junior Mario Canestro and senior Jackson Strehlow), a new hire Toby Decided (sophomore Tristan Touhy), and a reporter, Ida Nomaby (sophomore Lilliana Herbert).

Halfway through the play, Ben Tru DaMill was poisoned, dying while constructing a scene.

The whole cast was surprised and appalled. Well, except for one, obviously. Who poisoned him?

Joining the group were two detectives, Howdy Duit (sophomore Nathan Diemdowicz) and Katy Cetchem (sophomore Samantha McMillian).

The audience had to work together with the detectives to learn the killer’s identity.

This entire night was very immersing and interactive, and I loved it. The only problem was that the killer was very hard to guess.

The evidence was quite vague, and I sadly did not have the attention to detail required.

This is a flaw on my part, not the actors, I must say.

It is hard to criticize a play in which the entire audience couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.

The actors played their parts very well.

Each one had a distinct personality, and they played it up to the audience’s amusement.

The plot was pretty hilarious, well, besides the death, of course.

The dinner was also delicious. Overall, the entire night was amazing. I give “Movie Mayhem: The Final Take” a rating of 4 out of 4 Grizzly paws.