Smokey Barque to Host Murder Mystery Party

Smokey Barque will host a murder mystery party on Saturday night.

“We’re really going to try to have people try to just enjoy themselves,” said owner Tommy Ridings.

The evening will include a four-course dinner and a mobster mystery play, entitled “Bullets in the Bathtub.”

As guests arrive, actors with Jest Mysteries, the featured performance company, will distribute roles and assist partygoers as they become familiar with one another’s characters.

The show will run from 7-9:30 p.m. The performance will be light and comedic. Audience interaction is encouraged but not required.

Ridings and his wife, Mary Ann, said the mystery party is partially intended to be a riff off the rumors that the restaurant is haunted.

However, the show is just one of many events Smokey Barque is hosting in the coming months. Tommy and Mary Ann want to establish the restaurant as a local destination. In the next few weeks alone, the Ridings will open their doors for a ladies night, a soul concert and a trivia and karaoke night.

The Ridings’ also said that Jest Mysteries has several other shows in their repertoire, and that they hope to throw a murder mystery party at Smokey Barque every few months.

“We want to make downtown Frankfort the place to hang out,” said Mary Ann.

Smokey Barque is located at 20 Kansas Street. The murder mystery party begins at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $40 and include tax and gratuity. To purchase tickets, call 815-277-2502.

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