By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
When a busload of passengers is stranded by a blizzard in upstate New York at the St. Mary’s Convent, all of the Marys must be wary.
While a group of nuns are waiting out a snowstorm in their convent, a radio broadcast alerts them of the murder of a waitress at a nearby diner. The murderer is targeting women named Mary — the name of all the nuns and two passengers on the bus.
Guests at Hays Community Theatre’s latest murder mystery and dinner theater “Murder Can Be Habit Forming” have to guess if the killer is among the convent guests before another Mary gets whacked.
As the story unfolds, two more passengers are added to the potential list of victims. One passenger is a flamboyant actress whose TV character is named Mary and another is a retired school teacher who was formerly a nun named Mary.
Potential suspects include the college professor, the newspaper columnist who doesn’t like to see his name in print, and the bus driver.
Police detective Patrick McDougal was also on the bus and takes charge of solving the case.
“Providing as many laughs as chills, ‘Murder Can Be Habit Forming’ is a lighthearted mystery comedy that reveals the very human side of the nuns as they attempt to stay one step ahead of a killer,” the HCT website said.
Shows are at 7 p.m, Friday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, Feb. 16, at the HCT venue, 121 E. Eighth. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 each. The meal is being catered both nights by Hickok’s Steakhouse. A pork tenderloin dinner will be served Friday night, and a spaghetti dinner will be served Saturday night.
The meal includes water, tea and coffee. Other drinks will be available for purchase. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Click here to purchase tickets online.
Cheryl Glassman, director, directed the play years ago while she was with the theater program at TMP-Marian. She said the play never gets old and still makes her laugh.
“It is a great story line, and I sit out here and laugh,” she said. “It is very funny, and I miss lines sometimes because there are so many funny lines. It is really cool to watch more and more and get more out of it. It is just a really good show.”
Glassman said the play’s cast of 15 is fairly large for a winter production.
“It is always a challenge to get everyone here, because we are all working people and we come from so many different directions in life,” she said. “Everyone here works. Our youngest people are high school aged, and our oldest cast member is 72, so quite an age range.”
She said the cast has brought together people with varying levels of stage experience.
“We have people who have never been in a show before, who are in this show and have evolved into these awesome characters,” she said. “It really gives me goosebumps when I think about it. You see people who are really shy and timid, and once they start getting into their characters and understand what is needed to portray that person, you don’t even realize it is that person on stage anymore. For me, that is the best part — watching them evolve.”
The Hays Community Theatre is trying to offer more shows in its new venue on Eighth Street.
“It is basically because we want to get more people involved and have more for the community to enjoy and do versatile things that are different,” Glassman said. “Some people might want to go to this type of show but others might like that type of show.”
She said HCT will still utilize other venues for other productions like their big summer show.
“For this type of show it is perfect,” she said of their venue on Eighth Street. “We have people who come from all different directions who help us with the set. When I first walked in here, we were all sitting around a table, then I walk in and there is all this stuff up here.”
HCT will also perform the play a week after they wrap up in Hays at a fundraiser for a group in Great Bend.