Who doesn’t love shiny things? Perhaps we have a touch of magpie in our make-up. So when creating a show centered around a jewel heist, the jewelry gets to be a statement all on its own. More than any other show in MMP’s history, the jewelry curation, led by Allison Mitchell and Beth Sparks-Jacques, has taken center stage for Ahoy! both for story and characterization. If your answer to the correct number of tiaras for a show is “yes,” then this is the blog post for you. Come take a gander at gorgeous gems in this behind-the-seas blog post!

BLING-A-DING-DING: The Making of Ahoy! (Part 4)

The 2026 season was themed around “All That Glitters,” a celebration of everything that sparkles, be it stolen gems, sunlight kissing the waves, silver shoes, or Emerald Cities. With that in mind, we centered the story of Ahoy! on a priceless diamond necklace, employing a humorous Easter Egg from our most recent Master Mystery Production, The Last Garden Party; or How a Lady Keeps Her Poise Around Corpses. This necklace becomes the Macguffin of the show.

The Cape–the name of the necklace in the script–(pictured above) is rumored to be made of entirely South African diamonds, hence the name after Cape Town. It was a necklace already in the MMP jewelry archive as a piece we got for the character of Marie Antoinette in Spring 2019’s hilarious farce, Eat Cake. This “royal provenance” was played up in Ahoy‘s shipboard newspaper in an article all about the Cape’s history to give our audience extra context on these fabulous gems. Hall of Fame Artist Janis Kunz was responsible for inventing the necklace’s spurious history. With this as the centerpiece of the play, director Daniel Stallings made one request with the jewelry scheme: MORE. An inspiration was honestly Miss Piggy. Rings and bracelets over gloves. Necklaces. Earrings. And tiaras. Soooo many tiaras. Thanks to generous contributions from the cast, we netted seven sparkling circlets on the heads of some of our ladies, carefully coordinated with their costuming and characters.

As crowns of all colors do, they represent a character’s status and style. For characters like The Honourable Ginevra Longfellow, who represent European tradition, the tiaras are sparkling but more understated with their whirls and swirls. Jewels are more elegantly cut and less ostentatious (as much as a gemstone can get). Lines are cleaner and more graceful, not outshining the wearer.

In contrast, American new money is flashy and overt. Welathy industrialists show off their riches. And so do their wives and daughters. Take the tiara of Collen O’Connel, styled as a rich American socialite and best friend of Lana Lovelace. She is young and flirty and fabulously wealthy. We gave her exuberance. Her sea-green jewels that match her dress are big and bubbly, frothing like surf on a beach. These are jewels that demand attention, not command it. Loud and proud. What they may not have in grace, elegance, and understated style, they make up for in exuberance, joy, and audaciousness.

You can directly contrast Colleen’s tiara with tiaras for those of European upper class such as the ones above. Again, to keep with the nautical themes of Ahoy!, the colors remained blues and greens contrasted with pearls (an oceanic gemstone) and diamonds, which are references to the script and past MMP shows.

Not all the jewels are jewelry, you know. Beaded handbags and even Ginevra Longfellow’s ear trumpet–made by Janis Kunz and decorated by Margit Stallings–get the glittery treatment. The ear trumpet was decorated to perfectly match the actress’ costume with blue and green gems and coordinating glitter. It even comes with a chain to allow it to be draped on a bracelet-shrouded wrist. How fashionable!

With the lights kept low and dramatic for the show, befitting a candlelit cruise dinner, the jewels, sequins, mirrors, and crystal chandeliers are going to SPARKLE. We want the audience to look out and see a sea of jewels. And thanks to these amazing artists, they definitely will. Let’s hope nothing unfortunate happens to one of these fabulous pieces. Like the Cape. It would be a shame if something happened to it, wouldn’t it?

There may be an ocean of jewels in Ahoy!, but there is only one Diamond. As a treat for the guests, we have invited the one, the only Miss Diamond LaPore to sail with us on the S.S. Americana and lend her lovely voice to two musical numbers during the show. Diamond LaPore originated in our first MMP show–Murder at the Red Fez–and as a delightful Easter Egg, we have revived her with the help of two-time Diamond Mask Award winner Elise Bechtel. In our final behind-the-seas post, we’ll interview Elise on the creation of Diamond LaPore and her singing in An Encore Performance: The Making of Ahoy! (Part 5).

Snatch those seats before we sail away! We open Friday! Buy your tickets here. Tiers are starting to sell out, and we’d hate for you to miss the festivities!

–Master Mystery Productions