The Roaring ’20s come alive — until someone doesn’t — at speakeasy murder mystery experience in Buena Park
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Pirates Dinner Adventure, a venue that turns a meal into much, much more, has added some 1920s-style murderous intrigue to the list of offerings at its Buena Park location.
“The Speakeasy Murder & Other Acts of Prohibition” opened the doors to its murder-mystery dinner experience on June 4 in the theater adjoining the larger pirates venue — with bootleggers, flappers and other characters welcoming guests for an underground, New York nightclub event.
The immersive and interactive live-action endeavor involves guests — as much as they like — in two hours and 15 minutes of drama, jealousy, song and, yes, a murder served up alongside a three-course meal.
“You’ll get to meet the characters,” said Erik Hastings, creator and co-producer of “The Speakeasy Murder.” “We’re gonna give you bribe money so you can bribe them for information … and before the night is out, somebody is going to get murdered.”
He said the production is as participatory as guests want it to be. For those who just want to sit back, watch the mystery, clap, laugh and have a good time, the show will work just fine for them.
“Now, for the person who really wants to get involved in the show and try to solve the murder and do the clues, we love those people just as much,” he said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all with participation.”
“The Speakeasy Murder” is produced by EG Murder Media, founded by Hastings, a comic writer and TV host of the PBS show “Beyond Your Backyard.” Gary Littman, a Broadway theater producer and voiceover, TV and stage actor, is a co-producer of the experience, which originally launched in Orlando in 2025 at the Pirates Dinner Adventure location in Florida.
The Buena Park setting for the show is an intimate space for about 125 guests and includes a stage, bar and dinner table seating. Characters interact with audience members before the show and during the intermission of the two-act performance. During the production, characters perform and sing on the stage, at the bar as well as in and around where guests are seated.
The three-course, prix fixe menu includes chicken, pasta, vegetarian and vegan options, a gluten-free pasta option and kid-friendly meals. The show is rated PG-13.
“You will step into a New York City speakeasy in 1929,” Hastings said. “Prohibition would have gone into effect in 1920, 1921.”
There will be bootlegging, flappers and gangsters in a club called The 38, set on 38th Street in Midtown Manhattan. You’ll meet Charlie “The Tuna” Scarpelli, his mother, headliner Rose Meadowlark, and more.
Brandi Dolendo, the public relations and marketing director for the Speakeasy Murder in both Orlando and Buena Park, is pulling double duty by performing as a character on stage.
“I play Rose Meadowlark, the longstanding headliner of the club, who is approaching that stage of life where she is afraid of being replaced by the younger and more beautiful,” said Dolendo, who by day also assists with casting for both locations.
“Erik told me that they originally wrote the role of Rose with the song ‘Copacabana’ in mind. Who would Lola [in that song] be if she were a real person?” she continued. “How sad — an older, washed-up showgirl sitting at the bar without love. … It’s actually so deep for a comedic murder-mystery show, but that is why I love it so much.”
Dolendo says from the beginning of the production, the audience is brought into the story.
“Upon meeting cast members at the secret entrance, they are transported back to the 1920s into Club 38, where drinks and glamour flow,” she said. “Throughout the entire show, the audience is surprised by characters all around them, with scenes and interactions happening everywhere.”
Although the events that follow have been scripted, the audience becomes a character in the production — allowing the actors to break the fourth wall and speak directly to them.
“This is seen even more in the second act, when the audience becomes the interrogators and can question the cast and end up choosing who is finally arrested for the murder,” Dolendo said. “This is so fun, as it ensures that no show is exactly the same. I think this makes it a very special and memorable experience for the audience and allows people to return again and again.”
