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Dancing to the murder mystery beat

The cast of Shine Hayward's new mystery theatre production 'Death by Disco'.

‘The butler did it’ is the solution to many old-fashioned murder mysteries, but disco is the culprit in a new production that starts tomorrow.‘Death by Disco’ will show at Shine’s House of Music.On offer: A meal, a humorous murder investigation and lots of music from the 1970s.“The music will the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, and music from the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack,” said organiser Shine Hayward. “People will hear the sounds of some of their favourite disco tunes. However, the biggest portion of the evening will be the theatrical performance and the storyline that unfolds. It is a murder mystery. Do you want to know who dies? If you do, then you have to come to the show.”‘Death by Disco’ was written by American Jim Daab. Mr Hayward said the play had an interesting twist that intrigued him.“Mr Daab lives in the Washington, DC area, and ‘Death by Disco’ is playing in a few houses between Virginia and Washington, DC,” said Mr Hayward. “It caught our attention. We have always wanted to do dinner theatre and this presented us with the opportunity to branch out.”The audience interacts with the actors during the performance, which means that the show is a little bit different every time it is staged.“We have Bermudianised the production,” said Mr Hayward. “Wherever we could, we made it our own without taking away from the storyline. Of course, all changes were run by Mr Daab. We are hoping sometime soon he will come down and have a first-hand look at it.”‘Death by Disco’ is very much a family affair. Mr Hayward will perform along with his children, well known comedians Nadanja and Nishanthi Bailey.The show runs until November 1. Ms Bailey said having the show run for several months offered a rare opportunity for local performers to work on a continual basis for a period of time.“It is always an aspiring artist’s dream to be able to work in their art form or craft on an ongoing basis,” she said. “It is an all-star cast that the community should be very familiar with. Also in it will be Jah Simmons who has worked with my brother, Nadanja, in their Two Fools productions. There will also be DeAzha Chambers, 18. This is her first main stage production with an adult cast. She has worked with me previously in the youth organisation I founded, Troika. Also performing will be Deborah Joell who is known among the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society crew and Raymond Johnson who is one of the drum corps leaders of the PHC majorettes.”Shine’s House of Music has seating for only 60 guests per evening.“For this reason, we really urge people to book their tickets in advance,” said Mr Hayward. “Our very first show is already sold out and we haven’t even publicised it yet. We encourage people to think [of the] 70s when they decide what their outfit will be for the evening, but it is not mandatory.”Tickets are $75 and include a four-course meal, complimentary rum swizzle and the show. Tickets may be purchased online, at www.bdatix.bm . The show runs every Monday and Thursday at 7.30pm.