Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Standing Room Only (SRO) Theater has emerged as one of Yelm’s top entertainment sources since the conclusion of the pandemic, and in recent memory, the organization’s partnership with Farrelli’s Pizza to present murder mystery performances has turned into a community hit.
So far in May, SRO Theater has held six showings of “Murder at Blackbeard’s Tavern” over two weekends inside of the Farrelli’s Pizza party room. Attendees of the show were fed three courses of food off the pizza joint’s menu and entertained for several hours as the local community-based theater group acted out the murder mystery.
The cast of “Murder at Blackbeard’s Tavern” included, Joel Derefield as Blackbeard; Meg Long as Margo; Savannah Creamer as Annabelle; Rae Simpson as Ruby; Rob Hoefs as Arturo; Kamylle Sprenger as Silas; and Scarlet the Talking Parrot.
The production’s support crew features: Eli Manuputty Goff as stage manager; Karie Fountain as assistant stage manager; Steve Harshfield as a producer and deckhand; and co-directors Yvette O’Keefe and Kalen McCrea.
Additionally, costumes were created by Long and Simpson, and posters were designed by artist Kelly McCrea.
According to Steve Harshfield, SRO Theater president, the first two weekends of “Murder at Blackbeard’s Tavern” welcomed some fun and enthusiastic crowds. He noted that many of the attendees arrived at Farrelli’s Pizza “decked out in full pirate regalia, really getting into the spirit of the evening.”
“The partnership with Farrelli’s has been amazing, bringing attention to both Farrelli’s and SRO, with a lot of first-timers coming out to have dinner and see a show,” Harshfield said. “After last year’s murder mystery, Farrelli’s was really itching to have us put on a Christmas show, thus the birth of the Cranberry Saucy Review.”
Harshfield noted that tickets for the first two shows on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, sold out about two-thirds of the way, however, due to word of mouth, tickets for the shows on Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9, were completely sold out. So far, 130 community members have attended and participated in the murder mystery shows.
“When all is said and done, we will have entertained more than 200 people from around western Washington,” Harshfield said. “I definitely want to give a special mention to the city of Yelm and the LTAC - this year’s show is funded in part by LTAC tax dollars collected in Yelm. SRO and several other organizations were awarded money from the LTAC fund, keeping that money in Yelm to help promote local events to the broader community.”
Yvette O’Keefe, in her fourth year as a director, writer and choreographer for SRO Theater, said the first two weeks of “Murder at Blackbeard’s Tavern” have been fantastic. In this particular performance, she was a director, alongside co-director Kalen McCrea. She said having him as a partner made the performances even better.
“The first couple of weekends were fantastic. We had a few open seats the first weekend and sold out the second one,” O’Keefe said. “People walk into Farrelli’s Pizza in Yelm and immediately hear Scarlet the talking parrot welcoming them to Blackbeard’s Tavern before the show even starts.”
She added that the audiences of the murder mystery series have been incredibly engaging, as participants take a pirate oath, sing sea shanties and participate in discovering who the killer of the show is.
“By the end of the first act, the whole room feels like part of the tavern,” O’Keefe said. “During one of the surprises we gave them, the look on their faces was pure shock — some with mouths agape, and one woman actually screamed. These reactions are always the goal. To create not just a show, but an experience.”
Like Harshfield, O’Keefe is grateful for the partnership with Farrelli’s Pizza in town, and described the local establishment as being an “incredible partner.”
“In fact, management is honorary SRO theater people now,” O’Keefe said. “They work with us to time out the salad, entrée and dessert courses in between our acts as we request. Not an easy feat, but after four years they still pull it off. They come up with unique drink names that fit our murder mystery theme every year and the guests love them. It just couldn’t be any better — unless they build on a bigger addition to the restaurant.”
Tickets for the final weekend of the murder mystery series are available, in limited capacity, online at www.srotheater.org.
