It is officially the season of Fall and Halloween! With the start of October, we welcome our First Friday Interview. In this month’s interview, we are featuring the Executive Director of Without A Cue Productions, Traci Connaughton. Without A Cue was established in 2002, and since the grand opening of the RED RŪM Theater this past January, their murder mystery shows have been successfully taking place here in Philadelphia. We are so excited to dive into what these shows entail with Traci!
PPRG: Hi Traci! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. What was the idea behind creating a murder mystery theater?
TRACI: I was already working in the industry, saw so much potential, and knew that it could be done… and that went a little bit beyond. I started working with a great group of people. I love Immersive entertainment giving clues and creating an ambiance in a room, I had a blast doing them.
PPRG: What was the idea behind the name, Without A Cue Productions?
TRACI: That’s a tough one. Wow, It was 21 years ago! The person who started it with me way back actually came up with the name. We rely so much on improvisation. In a cheeky kind of way, we were saying to ‘fly by the seat of your pants.’ We are Improvisation-based and don’t plan cue lines.
PPRG: For someone who hasn’t been to one of the shows, what can they expect?
TRACI: Well for starters, there is no stage. We work within a room and with the audience. People know who we are because we are dressed up for the role. You’ll be interacting with the actors, to your comfort level of course. They come right up to you. It is a fully scripted show. The whole room is the stage!
PPRG: Now that it’s the month of Halloween, are there any spooky events we can look forward to?
TRACI: Yes!! We have “A Golden Girls Murder Mystery: A Halloween Caper” happening all month long and of course on Halloween! It’s an hour-and-a-half performance where you’ll get to play detective as the Golden Girls mingle with you and your friends. We also have others such as Once Bitten, Twice Dead at our Feasterville-Trevose location, A Bewitching Murder, and more! Most are at our Red Rūm Theater, but we also do our traveling shows at other locations.
PPRG: That sounds so fun! Does the audience get to interact with the actors and figure out the mystery for every show?
TRACI: Yes! It’s the best part.
PPRG: After Halloween, will there be any Christmas shows we can look forward to?
TRACI: Yes! You can check out our website for all upcoming events and look out for more updates.
PPRG: Great. I saw that you have a 7-week workshop for aspiring mystery creators. That’s a great idea! Can you touch on what your theater workshop, Without A Cue Kids, entails?
TRACI: Yes! With this workshop, a bunch of our actors are teachers. I am also a writer and taught writing! I have a daughter who is in middle school and she and her friends keep writing murder mysteries. I’m sure she got it from me, but I think kids love doing it! So, we have a very small group and work with middle school and high school students. They work together to write their own mysteries. They direct it. They produce it. It’s a whole production! Then they get to perform it in the Red Rūm Theatre in Philly. We love teaching kids everything we know.
PPRG: That’s fantastic. It’s great you give kids the opportunity to create their own mysteries and help them come to life. Is there anything else you’d like to share about Without A Cue?
TRACI: Yes. We also do custom work! Writings, or even events such as weddings. I currently do small weddings where we are the entertainment creating live-action games. For example, instead of a DJ, they have us come as the entertainment! Guests will be included in the heist and it doesn’t have to be about murder either.
PPRG: Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. Thank you for sharing that information. We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today. Thanks, Traci!
We are so excited about the Golden Girls Murder Mystery show and other shows they have planned for the future. You can check out their website and socials for upcoming shows and updates. If you plan on seeing one of the shows, let us know in the comments below!
Without A Cue Productions is a client of Philly PR Girl
