Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre opens its 44th Season with the Indiana debut of Shear Madness, the first of four new shows on its stage in 2017. This play, known as “America’s favorite comedy whodunit,” will have audiences rolling in the aisles as they help detangle the clues of a murder mystery in a not-so-typical hair salon.

Featuring a unique blend of madcap improvisation and spine-tickling mystery, and set right here in Indianapolis, the Beef & Boards production features local references throughout the show and up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor.

When the old lady upstairs is murdered, the audience gets to spot the clues, question the suspects, and solve the funniest mystery in the annals of crime. The outcome is never the same, which is why many audience members return again and again to the scene of the mayhem.

Shear Madness stars Jeff Stockberger as Nick O’Brien, the cop; Daniel Klingler as Tony Whitcomb, the salon owner; Jenny Reber as the hairdresser Barbara DeMarco; Suzanne Stark as the socialite Mrs. Eleanor Shubert; Nathan Robbins as the undercover cop Mikey Thomas, and Michael Shelton as the mystery man Eddie Lawrence.

Voted “Best Comedy of the Year” seven times by the Boston Globe and recipient of the title “Best Play of the Year” by both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer, Shear Madness has also received the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America and has been inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, the first play ever to receive that accolade. Shear Madness is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running play in the history of the USA.

Shear Madness is on stage for 30 performances through Jan. 29 in the intimate space of Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Tickets range from $42.50 to $67.50 and include Chef Odell Ward’s holiday buffet and select beverages. Parking is always free. For reservations, call the box office at 317.872.9664 anytime between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays.

Ring in the New Year with a special performance of Shear Madness on Dec. 31, which includes the dinner buffet, show, party favors, dancing to live music, balloon drop, and champagne toast at midnight, as well as Chef Odell Ward’s breakfast buffet. Tickets to this special celebration are $84.
For more information, including complete show schedule, visit beefandboards.com. Shear Madness is rated PG-13 for some adult humor, and is sponsored in part by Salon 01.

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Indiana’s only year-round professional dinner theatre,
has been serving up exceptional entertainment since 1973.

Fact Sheet

WHAT: Shear Madness
Sponsored by Salon 01

WHEN: Dec. 29, 2016 through Jan. 29, 2017
Weekday/Saturday Evenings
Doors open at 6 p.m.; Buffet from 6¬:30 to 7:30 p.m.; Show at 8 p.m.
Dec.: 29, 30, 31
Jan.: 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28

Weekday Matinees
Doors open at 11 a.m.; Buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Show at 1 p.m.
Jan.: 4, 11, 18, 25

Sunday Evenings
Doors open at 5 p.m.; Buffet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Show at 7 p.m.
Jan.: 8, 15, 22

Sunday Matinees
Doors open at noon; Buffet from 12:15 to 1 p.m.; Show at 1:30 p.m.
Jan.: 8, 15, 22, 29


WHO:
Director - Eddie Curry
Costume Design - Jill Kelly Howe
Lighting Design - Ryan Koharchik
Set Design - Michael Layton

Starring

Daniel Klingler as Tony Whitcomb
Jenny Reber as Barbara DeMarco
Michael Shelton as Eddie Lawrence Suzanne Stark as Mrs. Eleanor Shubert
Jeff Stockberger as Nick O’Brien
Nathan Robbins as Mikey Thomas

WHERE: Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre 9301 Michigan Rd., Indianapolis, 46268

TICKETS: Available by calling the box office at 317.872.9664 between 10 a.m. & 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays. Tickets range from $42.50 to $67.50 ($84 for the New Year’s Eve celebration) and include Chef Odell Ward’s dinner buffet, fruit & salad bar, and select beverages.

WEB SITE: For more information or show schedule, visit beefandboards.com

Nick O’Brien (Jeff Stockberger), right, watches as Tony Whitcomb (Daniel Klingler) fills his hand with shaving cream as he prepares to give Nick a shave in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2017 Season opener, Shear Madness. Now on stage through Jan. 29, this madcap murder mystery takes place in a not-so-typical Indianapolis hair salon – and the audience decides how it ends! Photo © & courtesy of Patricia Rettig

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2017 Season open with Shear Madness. Now on stage through Jan. 29, this madcap murder mystery takes place in a not-so-typical Indianapolis hair salon – and the audience decides how it ends! Photo © & courtesy of Patricia Rettig

From top, Tony Whitcomb (Daniel Klingler), Eddie Lawrence (Michael Shelton), Mrs. Eleanor Shubert (Suzanne Stark) and Barbara DeMarco (Jenny Reber) are the prime suspects in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2017 Season opener, Shear Madness. Now on stage through Jan. 29, this madcap murder mystery takes place in a not-so-typical Indianapolis hair salon – and the audience decides how it ends! Photo © & courtesy of Patricia Rettig

Suspected of murdering an old lady above the salon are (from left) Tony Whitcomb (Daniel Klingler), Mrs. Eleanor Shubert (Suzanne Stark) and Barbara DeMarco (Jenny Reber) in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2017 Season opener, Shear Madness. Now on stage through Jan. 29, this madcap murder mystery takes place in a not-so-typical Indianapolis hair salon – and the audience decides how it ends! Photo © & courtesy of Patricia Rettig