It’s time to have our cake and eat it too, because the first show of MMP’s 2019 season is upon us! After twenty-one shows, we wanted to go all out on a production full of color, sparkle, and hilarious hijinks. Befitting of our return to the gorgeous venue of Amargosa Opera House, we’ve gone for a Rococo revolution! Come with us to the extravagant palace of Versailles at the heart of the French court just before revolution breaks in this madcap comedy that is simply indulgent. Because, by all means, let them…

EAT CAKE

It’s 1789, and it’s the last hurrah for the French aristocracy before the guillotine cuts the celebration short. At the gilt-and-crystal splendor of Versailles, the eccentric and flamboyant Marquis Mauvais has taken up the latest fashion in “philanthropy” when he scoops up Brigitte the Bawd from the streets of Paris and aims to transform her from the slums to the salons. Contending with his fiancée, a vicious gossip, and a distinguished, yet doomed countess is a cake walk for the egotistical nobleman, but little does he know that his pet project intends to smuggle in dangerous revolutionaries into the palace. When a series of failed assassinations at multiple targets rock the Marquis’ apartments, a madcap maze of motives and mistaken identity is exposed. Who is responsible for the insanity? Is anyone truly innocent? In a farcical nod to the madness of Versailles and the French Revolution, Eat Cake is a hilarious, high-speed mystery comedy with wacky characters, screwball secrets, and tumultuous twists and turns that make you wonder if anyone can have their cake and eat it too.

Eat Cake, a revolutionary murder mystery farce written and directed by Daniel Stallings, is our second production created for the legendary Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction, CA. An exquisite and magical place to perform, the opera house was the passion and heart of the late Marta Becket, a NY ballerina who rediscovered the hotel and opera house and revitalized it with her dancing and her elabroate hand-painted “audience” murals that cover the walls, ceiling, and background drapes. After our run of Exit Prima Donna, a murder mystery opera we performed in Spring 2018, we were specially invited back to do a new classical show. We presented them with Eat Cake.

Eat Cake is funny, frivolous, frantic, and fabulous featuring a cast of MMP veteran performers, many of them Diamond Mask Winners for Best Actor/Actress. It’s a comedy that spoofs the rather over-upholstered nobles of Versailles, the antics of the French court in the 18th century, and the surplus of unbelievable decadence that brought about their ruin through revolution. All gift-wrapped with a mystery for our guests to solve. We’ll have rebels hiding under giant dresses, mistaken identities, sharp and sassy quips, bodies in the bathtub, an elephant of a cake, and enough shade to eclipse the Sun King’s (Louis XIV’s) palace. Can anyone have their cake and eat it too? Only by attending the show will you find out.

The show will feature are most elaborate and extravagant costumes to date, including four brand-new, custom-made 18th century gowns created for the show. Our production will be full of bright color–teals, golds, royal blues, indigos, blood reds, corals, yellows, pinks–to pay respect and help celebrate the rainbow of paints used in Marta’s paintings. The show is light, frothy, and full of laughs. It has become one of the most enjoyable experiences we have ever had working on a Master Mystery Production. Our very talented cast and hardworking crew is going all out to produce a show no one will ever forget. Who’s ready for cake?

Eat Cake performs all Saturdays, March 23, March 30, April 6, and April 13th at 2 p.m. at Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction. Tickets are $30 each general admission and $15 for kids 12 and under. Tickets will be sold through the Amargosa Hotel Front Desk, and it is highly recommended tickets be purchased in advance. Call the Front Desk at (760) 852-4441 between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily or leave a message with your name and number to reserve your seats. Patrons should reference “Eat Cake” and have their credit card ready; they can also process ticket purchases through receipt of a hard copy check. Tickets may be picked up at the Front Desk starting at noon on the day of the show. Tickets are non-refundable. Patrons may also email the Front Desk if there are difficulties reaching them and leave details such as name and phone number, and the front desk staff will call them back. That email is deathvalleyjunction.backstage@gmail.com.  For further questions, contact mastermysteryproductions@hotmail.com or message Master Mystery Productions on Facebook.

If you are traveling from the Ridgecrest area, it is a three hour drive to the venue, so please plan accordingly when making your trip to see the show.  There are stops in Stovepipe Wells for food, gas, and other facilities. Once the doors close for the show, they will not be opened until intermission.

Join us for an afternoon of frosting, frills, and farce and enjoy a big slice of mystery with our vision of Versailles. Join us for Eat Cake! We can’t do it without you. Hope to see you there!

–Master Mystery Productions