The Columbus Mystery Company

I read the previous review and must say I disagree wholeheartedly. We came with a groupon with two tickets for 54. A good value. If I had paid 120 I would have been disappointed.The location is an adorable looking country home with standard antiques. (sort of like a cracker barrel without the rockers). The place is called the Morgan house. Parking is plentiful and free. My mother and I attended July 21, 2012. We arrived 15 minutes late as we drove from Akron. Yes. The seating arrangement is long Amish style dining. But the murder mystery is meant to be solved by teams sitting at the tables. The food is fair, although not gourmet. But that is what happens at events with 150 people. (the food is fine. Think of rubber chicken political dinners). The staff is polite an very helpful. The event is fast paced and funny. The people are proud to be there and are doing there best to be entertaining. Here are some suggestions for improvement: 1. Some of the tables cannot see the action at the center of the room. This makes it hard to follow the story This is especially true of the table near the gift shop. 2. Please turn down the speaker system. It overpowers conversation for back tables.

My husband and I went to the Murder Mystery Company for our anniversary meal/entertainment. We had never been to a dinner theater/murder mystery before - so we did not know what to expect. Our first impression was that the location was good, parking was great, and seating was OK, but cramped. We were seated at a table for 6 and ended with with 2 couples that came together - very nice people.The service was good - keeping my drink full and clearing our places promptly after we finished each course. I knew ahead of time that drinks were a la carte - but I did not know that gratuity for the meal/presentation was separate. My husband and I agree that all should be included in the upfront cost so you don't feel nickel-and-dimed to death.The meal was fine. My husband hated the salad - but I as a more ecletic eater enjoyed it. It was mixed greens with sliced fruit and a light vinagrette dressing. We both liked the main course (stuffed pepper for me and chicken for him). Dessert was rated good by him and OK by me (where can you really go wrong with brownie and vanilla ice cream. A French Vanilla would have raised it to GREAT, but it was OK - good).The storyline was a bit difficult to follow - since audience members could not necessarily be heard in their acting parts and were sometimes confusing in what they said. It might have helped to either select better "actors" or to include more of the storyline in print in the binders.The length was about right. I wouldn't have wanted another "scene" or "act." I really liked the fact that you could get involved and participate as much or as little as you wanted. We chose to watch and not get up and ask questions or interrogate the principal players. The couples at our table milled about somewhat by the end of the play.The mystery was definitely solvable. I won't give the "who dunnit" away - but as soon as it was explained to us who did it and why, I rolled my eyes and smacked my head - I should have picked up on the clues.Would I go again? Yes - IF - we went with another 2 couples that we enjoy socializing with. I know we'd have a much better time and be more engaged.As to the liquor license - as a non-drinker, I'm happy that they don't serve alcoholic beverages. I do think that this type of entertainment is not family-friendly and would not appreciate having children in the audience. We did not have any kids in our seating and would not have thought that it would have been appropriate for a younger crowd.

Overall I didn't hate it but I never want to go again. I wanted so badly to love it. It just fell short. Food: sub-par but decent. Really not much more to say about it. Pricing: Unfairly priced we sat with people who paid half of what we did by finding tickets off on group on. We paid double for the same exact thing and it's over priced. BIG TIME Alcohol: Basic well liquor drinks. Show: They could stand to push the audience more. I brought a bachelorette party and were dressed in 80s for the show. They paid no attention to us. Matter of fact they could have done a TON more with the large group we had but they didn't deliver. They totally missed the mark with all the birthdays and parties there. It's like they didn't realize they had large groups ready for fun. I like the actors in the audience but they rely on them way to much. They need small fun parts. They also need people who WANT to do it. Making people isn't going to make for a good show. Stopping a show to say, "you can read from your binder" and "come up front with your binder" and "is that what your binder says?" Breaks the show up way too much. And the people in the show should be dressed for the show. Location: The Columbus location is hard to find. It took us 25 mins to find the door. Also the seating is horrible. I was between two wobbly tables in a uncomfortable chair. The location had nothing to do with the show and you wanted us to pretend we were at a rock concert while we were at some weird mom and pop place with a huge fire place behind you. It's also hot. Turn down the Ac Service: The servers are great. They are fast. Nice and make the over priced show worth it. Acting: They stayed in character. They dressed the part. Story line: Easy to follow. PG. I was hoping for more. It fell flat. I was bored. I couldn't hear the other people in the show sitting far away. Case work: They want you to mingle between tables. I can see how this would be easy in a large place but in the small place we were it was hard and uncomfortable. I think they need to tweak the show per location. Pictures: Cute. Fun addition. The props had NOTHING to do with the show nor did the background though. That could use some work. If you figure out who did it: No prize. No real recognition. It just happens and you leave.Website: Not that easy to use. I wish they made jokes about people not dressed for the show. I wish they had a better sound system and the pic background for the theme of the show. I heavily encourage them to pay more attention to large parties and play more music. I also hope they find a new location and understand that what they're doing isn't working,

In Kentucky we have a murder mystery company and cast that I've witnessed several times. Their scripts rotate monthly, but I became a bit bored after watching them about three times. Soooo, I was excited to learn that The Murder Mystery Company was coming to Equus Run Winery from Columbus, Ohio. Their production was way different than the other one. Some can interpret that to be good, but I didn't. I want to sit back and relax, enjoy my wine and dinner and entertained. This show was way too interactive for my liking.I think there were only 3 different cast members and they started their act by mingling way before the show, while we were still up doing our wine tastings. It was then, prior to the show that they chose one person from each table to act as a "suspect". What do you know, I was chosen. They wanted me to go from table to table and ask questions in exchange for the bribery dollars... which I didn't quite understand, because I seemed to won at that and had about five of the paper bills and hadn't a clue what to do with them at the end. What was the prize or recognition?The wine was good (as always). The food was catered by a different company and was good too. So luckily, the night prior to Valentine's Day wasn't too much of a flop. I definitely wouldn't recommend it or bring a friend.

Here's the short review: please don't go here.I went here with a group for a birthday party and it was a painful experience. The room is not well set up for a theater production so it is hard to see at times and the sound system is poor, so it is nearly impossible to hear what is going on unless you are close -- plus it's super crammed. No one at my table or near us could understand what was going on. The performers were mediocre at best, but they really hardly spoke at all.The low-budget performance relies on random people from the audience to act as characters, but they are relied on too heavily. Random people at the show can't effectively communicate the story they are given and the overall effect is a yawn-incuding, confusing performance. The "real performers" end up badgering the audience volunteers the whole performance to say certain things. Who killed who? Who cares.The food was mediocre at best -- dry chicken, a pasty dessert. The entire thing is incredibly overpriced, even if you have a Groupon. I could look around the room and see the dull look on everyone's faces; somehow we all made the same collective mistake.I rarely complain about a business, but this one needs to go out of business quickly so no one else has to endure this awfulness.

I have attended 2 shows by this company and loved both. The actors were great, easy to interact with and the themes of the dinners we're fun! Added bonus is they have acquired their liquor license so beer and wine are available. The food isn't the best I've had but it isn't the worst. I enjoyed getting up and going around and "interviewing" suspects. It gets your creative juices flowing.It's great for nights out with friends or just a date with that special someone.Looking forward to attending another show!

My husband I went to the show at Morgan House in Dublin, OH. We have been to several dinner theatres/murder mystery dinners, and this is the worst. I only gave one star because 0 was not an option. To begin with we were herded into a small open room with Amish "family style" seating at long wooded tables. It was so crowded that the servers (terrible service too!) were squeezed to get to the first half of the table, and had to "hand down" plates person to person (it was single servings, not family style portions). I think my husband nailed it when he said "It was the cook with the pasta!" Not only were the meal choices lame (stuffed pepper with potatoes, dry chicken cutlet with potatoes, or linguine), but it was terrible! We couldn't even eat our pasta, which was undercooked fettuccine with a generic bland tomato sauce and three little meatballs. Of course there was the store bought brownie with a scoop of sub par vanilla ice cream. Aside from the food (these tickets were supposedly $60/each regularly), the performance was horrendous! It was difficult to follow, was centered in a 6x6 open space of the floor or down the access hall to the restrooms (also inadequate) and out of view. This is an audience participation performance with one person from each table is chosen to be a suspect, and ultimately one is the culprit. However, it so crowded and discombobulated that you can't circulate, and THEY choose the person randomly. Some people are just not good in front of a crowd, and about half of the "chosen' were so uncomfortable or surprised that they couldn't "play" the part of their quickly thrust character bio that was forced upon them during the salad course (they get a binder the whole table is then asked to read as you have salad and pass bread). Another two major faux pas' of this group is they don't have a liquor license, so no wine, beer, or cocktails (although the add clearly states Plenty of Speakeasy Cocktails) and as there several children in the crowd, one of which was chosen as a "suspect" player, there were some sexual or adult innuendos that were uncomfortable (the Don's 2nd in command is Dixon Cox as they make a point of stressing, is just one example). Finally, your nonalcoholic beverages are not included, and after nearly 2 and half hours of drudgery, the troupe wrapped everything up, and as people are leaving the wait staff comes rushing out trying to stop people who already leaving, and hand off $2,50-$4.50 beverage bills and collect money and tips for service that would have prevented me from returning, if not reporting to the manager, at any other establishment.To sum it up- DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! Go to Cloak and Dagger! Or the Spaghetti Warehouses dinner theater. Cheers!

My husband and I went to the Morgan House on Saturday night for the murder mystery dinner theater. First of all, this is not theater. There was no "acting" per se. It was a show based on a huge amount of interviewing. The space was totally not equipped for this type of performance. It was cramped/uncomfortable seating arrangement. We were encouraged to get up to interview suspects, but there was no room in the place to do it. The food was okay, nothing to write home about, but edible. We were very disappointed as we had been looking forward to this date night. We were seated across from one another instead of next to each other and had to ask another couple to move to make space for us. We also could not hear what was going on or even the people at our table (who were supposed to be our team). Save your money!! Not worth the money or time.

The food was horrendous. Had I not used a groupon I would have been fuming mad at the price given the food and mediocre service. That being said the murder mystery part of it was really well-done. The cast was very good, rarely if eevr broke character were enthusisastic and did great improv work. The set up integrated the diners/audience into the mystery.

A group of friends and I went to the Morgan House last night for dinner and a show. First, the location was cramped and not planned well for a play. Our table was in the back and couldn't see anything that occurred to the sides of the main "stage" or anything below the actors' chests. Ads for the show claim it to be interactive, comedic, and fun. Well, it's hard to say it was any of those. The actors snapped at audience members throughout the evening for not memorizing lines and for talking when they were talking. At one point, the actors asked audience members a HIGHLY inappropriate question regarding their relationships, which I found to be distasteful and cheap for only a couple of laughs. The jokes were simple, uncreative, and sometimes redundant. Many of the actors had trouble with improvising when speaking with audience members, sometimes even getting angry when they forgot their lines. The play may as well be 100% scripted and noninteractive then. In addition, the play had nearly no action at all, but only interviews. No clever jokes, no visuals = no fun!Dinner was a limited menu of stuffed red pepper, cheese manicotti, or chicken divan. The couple bites of manicotti from my friend were dry and tasteless. The chicken divan was a slightly soggy breaded chicken breast, garnished with a very simple cheese sauce. Even the bread rolls and brownie dessert were only cheap, store-bought quality. The brownie tasted like Duncan Hines mix, perhaps two minutes overdone. While I try to give leeway because they have to produce so many meals, it's hard to overlook the cheap quality food that came with a $60/ticket. I expect better from a long-standing restaurant. The food seemed more like something that even I, a college student, could have whipped up. We used a Groupon for 50% the ticket prices, but it still wasn't worth it to me. This is one show for which I would NOT pay another penny and I suggest others skip it as well.