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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Manor Plays Host To Murder Mystery Audience Participation Key To Pulling Off Show

Associated Press

You’d think someone would notice.

Out here past the sagebrush hills, along a dusty road under spreading pines, lie two freshly dug graves.

Surely, with crickets singing and a breeze carrying the bouquet of newly mown hay, all should be tranquil in this serene spot west of Yakima.

But take a closer look. Around the immaculate grounds of the 120-year-old mansion, graced with rose bushes and chrysanthemums, lie bottles of poison, a casket, a thwarted love letter and a noose.

Someone has died in this remote area, and no one is doing anything about it.

In fact, they’re chuckling.

It’s no joke, though: it’s all part of the scene created at the Wiley City Mystery Manor.

Since last November, the manor has been the setting for a musical mystery melodrama. A troupe of actors and actresses sing and dance as the audience tries to figure out which one is a murderer.

“Who’s Killing Miss Charlotte’s Girls?” ran the first weekend of each month for a year, with the last two shows of the season held Oct. 3-4.

Performances will begin again in the spring with an all-new show, tentatively scheduled to be a drama, which takes place in Italy.

The Old West is the venue for “Who’s Killing Miss Charlotte’s Girls?” The plot revolves around the killings of several women. Just for the evening, the manor is transformed into a bordello run by Miss Charlotte, played by Jan Green.

Audience participation is a key ingredient. The first hint that this isn’t a “sit-back-in-your-chair-and-watch-the-action-unfold” experience comes as the guests arrive.

First, audience members fan out over the expansive grounds searching for 22 clues to explain the murders. By the end of the evening they have to bring together clues and what they’ve observed from the play to guess who the killer is.

Rumor has it that the two-story manor was, indeed, once used as a brothel. What’s known for sure is that the estate was once owned by Gordon Wiley, for whom the town is named, and was operated as the Wiley City Hotel until the 1940s.

Once the action on stage begins, at least one person from each table in the audience plays a small part in the script, from gunslinger to rancher. Men in particular are quite literally drawn into action as actresses playing hookers guide them from their seats, presumably to the bedrooms.

“I didn’t know we’d be playing a part,” said audience member Sherry Shaw one recent evening. Although Toniya “Sam” Cornelius doesn’t play the madame - or any part at all - she clearly is impresario of both theatrics and manor. Co-owner of the home with husband Charlie, Sam directs and produces the melodrama and co-wrote the script with Holly Adiele.

For his part, Charlie drives guests on a hayride around the grounds of the manor, which dates from the 1870s.

Sam entered show business right out of high school, performing as a singer, dancer and stand-up comic. She earned the title of “Ms. Boston” in 1966, was lead dancer in a revue in Puerto Rico and traveled around the world as “Miss Sam Teardrop.” Sam also appeared on the “Hee Haw” television show and was the roller-kating “Blond Bomber” for Honeycomb cereal commercials.

While Sam stayed behind the scenes during the melodrama, 14 local actors and actresses took the stage to sing, dance and, sometimes, fall victim to foul play. Cast members, who weaved in and out of the audience when not on stage, cheered and whistled for each other during solo numbers.

Sam learned a lesson early on about producing mystery theater in the Yakima area. Instead of writing just one ending for the show, she varied the script so that any one of four different conclusions could be used.

That way, she figures, even if previous theatergoers divulge the plot to friends, no one in the audience will know for certain what’s going to happen.

“You have to have a new ending each time because in Yakima people tell everything,” Sam said.