Cheers, everyone! We lift our glasses to toast the 10th anniversary season of Master Mystery Productions! And to kick off our 2025 season in a truly sparkling fashion, we’ve chosen to revive our first ever MMP show in a lush, expansive, immersive production that will plunge our guests straight into the pulsing heart of a secret, underground speakeasy where the wealthiest flappers mingle with the shadiest gangsters. For our 37th Master Mystery Production, we’ll dip our toes into the glamourous fantasia of the Jazz Age where the party doesn’t stop, but you won’t want to know how they paint the town red in…

MURDER AT THE RED FEZ 2025 REVIVAL

Untangle your pearls and don your fedoras. We’re stepping out tonight to the best speakeasy this side of Chicago. The Red Fez was the height of underground luxury, and Michael O’Rourke—rumored to be the notorious gangster Mickey the Muckler—welcomes all manner of shady characters and sparkling heirs and heiresses to fling away their daddy’s fortunes at his club. While flappers enjoy the music and the drinks, some mischievous mastermind ices Mickey for good. With the manager imposing a lockdown until he finds (and personally eliminates) the one who likes their bodies like they like their drinks — cold, the Red Fez will soon overflow with secret identities, suspicions, and stolen goods. What is the lounge singer afraid of? What is that paper folded in the doorman’s pocket? Where has Mickey’s moll disappeared to? For the tenth anniversary of Master Mystery Productions, we’re bringing our very first mystery show, Murder at the Red Fez, to audiences with a fresh script, live music, and scene-stealing performances. It’s gonna be a swingin’ good crime!

Murder at the Red Fez was first commissioned by the Red Hat Ladies of Bakersfield in March 2013 before Master Mystery Productions was even a thought in our founder’s head. The original trunk show–a one-person performance where guests look through a “trunk” of clues to find answers to the mystery–told the story of notorious gangster, Mickey the Muckler, who gets murdered one night in his underground speakeasy, The Red Fez, the name of which is an homage to the Red Hats who first booked the show. In March 2015, inspired by the success of that very first mystery, we started Master Mystery Productions. For Spring 2025, our tenth anniversary, we decided to revive our first show in bigger, flashier ways. More twists, more turns, more twinkling sequins.

The original version had no actors; the guests played our suspects while characters “died” offstage. Now for our big tenth birthday revival, we’ve crafted a fully realized script with TWO incredible casts of talented actors, live music (including performances from our lounge singer, Diamond LaPore), and a moody, sinister, immersive speakeasy set that requires a secret password to enter. Don’t worry. The password is printed on the tickets. Many of the original props and clues from that 2013 performance still exist and are being used in this 2025 version. Mysterious art hangs around you. Is some of it familiar? Costumes sparkle through the shadows as scandal after scandal is unveiled. In keeping with our desires to create an immersive world, the actors will sit and perform among the audience, bringing the crowd right into the heart of the action in a new, thrilling way. This is one show you do not want to miss!

Murder at the Red Fez, a Jazz Age murder mystery play, performs March 28, 29, April 4, and 5, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. with TWO Sunday matinees on March 30th and April 6th at 2 p.m. They all perform at Moe’s Music (207 W. Ridgecrest Blvd.). Tickets are $25 each at Red Rock Books in Ridgecrest, CA. Seating is limited, so don’t hesitate to buy your tickets soon.

Ciao, darlings!

–Master Mystery Productions