Murder mystery benefits C-TH cancer center

The cast for the 1930s-era play "Murder Mystery Dinner on the V&T" will feature "train crew, socialites and hobos" and use museum rolling stock for the sets and scenery.

The murder mystery to be performed by the Reno-based Funtime Theatre group at the Nevada State Railroad Museum is offered by the Carson-Tahoe Hospital Auxiliary at the Sept. 20 fund-raiser to benefit a new cancer center in Carson City.

Also featured will be museum tours and train rides, live music by Craig Fletcher, dancing and a silent auction. There will be a no-host bar, hors d'oeuvres and a barbecued chicken and steak dinner.

The fund-raiser begins at 2 p.m., with dinner at 4:30 p.m. The play will be performed during the dinner.

Roger Diez, who is writing the script for the murder mystery, said rather than performing from a stationary location, the cast will employ an interactive technique, mingling with the audience.

Diez said there will be a cast of 10 "with one or two mystery guests" and a "couple of murders."

Diez, sales manager for a Mound House business service, said he has been involved several writing projects and been creative producer for the past two years for Reno's Sheep Dip, an annual production featuring satirical skits aimed at Northern Nevada politicians and other well-known figures. He has also written a motorsports column for the Nevada Appeal since 1996.

Limited tickets for the event are $50 and may be purchased by calling Rosemary Smith at 882-7057, Joy Shanahan at 246-7998 or the Carson-Tahoe Gift Shop.

The hospital auxiliary is seeking sponsorships to defray expenses for the event and will identify on a "Sponsor Train" individuals and businesses who contribute. The levels of sponsorship are caboose $100, touring car at $500 and locomotive at $1,000. For information on sponsorships call 882-7057.

The event is part of a series of fund-raisers by the auxiliary, which has pledged $250,000 for the $12 million cancer center in northwest Carson City on the campus of the new regional medical center.

The proposed 38,000-square-foot cancer center, for which plans have been under way since 1999, is designed to make it easier for cancer patients to receive all treatments in the same place.