You can use the same kit as a play for 8 to 16 guests or download even more characters and use it as a “meet and mingle” kit where everyone mingles and talks about their Celebrity party clue(s) and then hears some Reports.
You can also use it for a quick 30-40 minute party or school classroom activity by skipping Acts 2 and 3 and just doing Act One and reading out the Reports.
Shorter clues (so easier to read).
This mystery has been used and enjoyed by adults and teens!
Select which items you want below by adding “1” on the left.
A 1960s game – a Halloween mystery! Also a great celebrity game!
It’s 1961 and the world’s richest man has invited anybody who is anybody to his birthday party. Marilyn Monroe is here looking for the perfect man. Something sinister and frightening is about to take place.
Perfect for Halloween, New Year’s or anytime!
Note: This mystery and celebrity game is perfect for Halloween, New Years Eve parties and other large parties. It is very flexible and caters for 8 to 100 guests. The larger versions are interactive – where you obtain information by talking to other guests rather than reading out clues to the whole group. You can break the party up and make it a musical soiree by having the celebrities mime or sing one of their hit songs each.
Versions and samples:
Downloadable Base Kit for 8 guests (4 female and 4 male) ($24.95):
Note: An optional trivia party game is also included. There are different versions of CCFA and CCFB Additional Female Character Set descriptions and name tags that are to be used for all girls parties. These files come included in the CCFA and CCFB sets.
Overview of a mystery about famous celebrities from the 1960s
It’s 1961. The world’s richest man – Jerry Oilman – has invited anybody who is anybody to his birthday party – the biggest party of all time. Jerry Oilman is an extremely wealthy man. He also has the misfortune of being a very short man.
Why not be like Jerry and have a celebrity birthday?
He made his money in oil. He is eccentric and notorious for his collection of stuffed bats. These hideous black winged creatures hang from the walls and ceiling of his house spooking everyone who enters. Some people consider Jerry Oilman quite batty. Others are less polite.
Tonight Jerry has invited a host of rich and famous people. For example, Marilyn Monroe is here looking for the perfect man. And when you get this many big names together you know there’s sure to be conflict. What Jerry hadn’t foreseen, and what you don’t know, is that something sinister and frightening is about to take place. You will all be asked to work out who is the villain behind this dastardly crime – a crime that will take us all the way to the graveside.
Excerpt from this celebrity mystery party
Groucho Marx: “I’d rather spend a night at the opera or a day at the races than listen to you lot.”
Photos
What They've Said
Katie (Kaitlyn) Thomas
“We held our Merri Mystery Dinner: Celebrity Celebrations on Saturday, October 22, 2011 in Norman, Oklahoma. I ordered the kit. We had 38 guests at our party and everyone loved it! Everyone had such a great time, that myself and my co-hostess, Bree, have already been requested to throw another Merri Mystery Dinner Party this year. Therefore, we plan to hold our 2nd annual Merri Mystery Dinner Party this October 2012. We have already begun our planning and hope that we win this contest to help us out!
Thank you!
Katie (Kaitlyn) Thomas”
See photo no. 3 above.
Sandra Lelleck
“Hi Stephanie,
I held “Celebrity Celebrations” on October 10th and it was a hit!
I have a large family and we try to stay close as a family by getting together once every three months. I was the hostess for this one. I wanted to try something new and a friend had told me about Merri Mysteries. The majority of my family was pretty tentative at first. By the end, they were excitedly talking about the next one!
Looking forward to more fun, Sandra Aden Lelleck”
See photo no. 2 above.
Kimberly Jones
“This was a great opening party for a new development. We had 17 suspects, 4 real police officers, real attorney read last will and a pre med student read medical report. I have hosted 2 more since this one…. “
See photo no.4 above.
Danielle Davis
“Hi! I was looking for a way to celebrate Halloween this year that didn’t include the risqué costumes that people my age tend to sport at parties – and something where there was more involved than beer pong and keg stands. Once I found your site – I knew a murder mystery dinner was it! Being in our late 20’s and early 30’s – we were looking for something that would be a good fit, not too old, not too young – something that would keep us on our toes. We had so much fun with this – all the guests loved it! They asked if we could make it tradition and host a mystery party once a year! This had to be one of those most fun nights I have had in a long time.
I attached a few photos just so you can see the hilarious costumes – and so we can enter the contest. Please let me know if you need anything else. Have a wonderful week and thank you for your creativity!!
Love, Danielle”
See photo no. 4 above of Groucho and Marilyn.
Craig Wright, Australia
“This party was held a few months ago for my wife’s birthday, and as you can see everyone made a big effort. Craig”
See photo no.7 above.
Lori Johnson
“We did our Celebrity Celebrations party on the patio! The day started out warm but rainy, but by the time night rolled around it was fairly crisp! We are so looking forward to choosing another mystery and all the preparations that will go with it. Our party was held October 25, 2008 and it took me this long to download the photos!
I purchased the Celebrity Celebrations Mystery for my Halloween party back in October and we had a great time playing the parts and guessing the villain. And then several of our guests in between: Janis Joplin, Groucho Marx, Patsy Cline, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball! It didn’t occur to me to take a group photo but next time I will be sure to do that!
Lori“
Traci Stevens
“LOADS of fun. We had a dinner for 72 people, and all had a fabulous time! This was a fundraiser for our youth group and they now want to do this twice a year!”
See photo no.8 above.
Shelly Klag
Shelly helped organize an office picnic for around 75 guests.
“Hi Stephanie:
I just wanted to let you know that we had our party this weekend and it was a smash! Everyone had such a fun time! Thanks so much for the kit. As soon as we get the film developed I will pass along some pictures. We will definitely pass your name along.
Thanks again, Shelly Klag”
Anne Laughton, Australia
Anne held a party for around 20 guests.
“Dear Stephanie:
We held our “Celebrity Celebrations” party on Saturday and it was a great success. People are still talking about it. The fact that it wasn’t very formal was great especially as we had a real range of ages at the party.
Thanks for all your help, Anne”
Debbie Ordes
“I hosted a fundraiser event with your Celebrity Celebrations and it was a great success! The event took place at a local country club and everyone was required to dress as a celebrity. I might add that most attendees dressed to the extremes. It was so fun to see everyone dressed up and even more how they all got involved in solving the crime. 8 people out of 47 guessed who the murderer was and their names went into a drawing to win a getaway vacation at a local resort.”
“If you can believe, the murderer was one of the 8 people who guessed and this person’s name was picked to win the trip also in the drawing. When they proudly came forward to receive this prize the microphone was grabbed and the person stated,”who says crime doesn’t pay!” Thought that was clever. Thanks for putting together such a great script.
Debbie Ordes Scoliosis Association of Palm Harbor”
Becky Haun
“We had over 90 guests with teachers performing the roles of the suspects and gifted students taking the other roles. It is a shot of all of our teacher “suspects” against the bat line decorations that were hung in the entryway to our commons area. We found the bat pattern on the Internet and students created the decorations for the commons area.
Our local newspaper covered the event with some very nice pictures on the front page.
We had a great time and are looking forward to doing Storm Survivors next November at school.
It was THE most requested activity in a survey of incoming 8th grade gifted students for the next school year!
Becky Haun
Teacher of the Gifted”
Theresa Burkman
“My husband and I hosted this party to celebrate my 40th birthday. We invited 90 people and 84 of them came. Everyone says it was the party of the year. It was exhaustive putting this together for such a large group, however, it worked very well, and no other mystery game would have been able to accommodate so many. Everything came together as planned and the costumes were outstanding. I have recommended Merri Mysteries to everyone who inquired. Thank you very much.”
Tony Banzer
“What a turnout, everyone who RSVP’d showed up and was really into their character. We had heard about the mystery party from a friend, but weren’t sure how it would go since we had so many people who didn’t know each other. We were so happy to see everyone take their roles and costumes beyond what we expected and interact with all of the characters. Everyone asked us to host another party for Halloween next year and we are looking to make it an annual event. Thank you for the package, it was a great guide. Our guests improvised and made it even more fun.
Tony Banzer”
Kim Barker
“We delivered the invitations, decorated the house, prepared the props, planned the menu and pulled it all together in one week…We all agreed that we haven’t laughed this hard and this much in a very long time!!! We all want to do it again!
Thanks again,
Kim Barker”
See photo no. 1 above.
Marie Anderson
“Hi! I just wanted to let you know my family had a great time when we recently held our “Celebrity Celebrations” mystery dinner. There was great anticipation leading up to the event as everyone prepared their costumes. I printed pictures of all the celebrity guests and hung them on the wall in the dining room. I also made a CD that had songs from our celebrity guests. It was fun to watch each guest “come to life” when one of their songs was played. We even made a “dummy” of the deceased victim with crime scene tape around it. Both young and old enjoyed the evening. I think I’ll order one especially made for children for my Girl Scout troop! I’ve attached a group photo from our mystery dinner.
Thanks for providing us with the tools for a truly fun evening!
Marie Anderson”
Characters
The suspects in this mystery game
The most famous guests present at the party are:
Jimi Hendrix
(1942-1970) I know I am going to be one of the most daring, inventive and influential rock guitarists. But at present, I’m still in the army.
Janis Joplin
(1943-1970) I am the first goddess of rock. I have a raw iron soul and sing like a blues mamma. I keep begging God to buy me a Mercedes Benz, but so far he hasn’t.
Fred Astaire
(1899-1987) I am a debonair man and I have sung and danced like no other. People say I gave Ginger class and she gave me sex appeal. I practice all the time. I’m a perfectionist.
Marilyn Monroe
(1926-1962) I am a sex goddess, singer, actor and model. I spent part of my childhood unloved in an orphanage but now I’m loved by all the men in the world. I am a member of the “Rat Pack”.
Elvis Presley
(1935-1977) I am the King of Rock ‘N Roll. I am also known for moving my pelvis when I perform. I have acted in a large number of movies. I am religious, but I’m not a saint.
Judy Garland
(1922-1969) I have sung and danced in thirty-two feature films and I am one of the world’s greatest entertainers. I am a member of the “Rat Pack”.
Groucho Marx
(1890-1977) I am the most famous of the Marx Brothers and I am known for my one-liners about elephants and pajamas and so on. I set fire to the first film we made as the Marx Brothers because I thought it was bad. I never work with children or animals except for Harpo.
Patsy Cline
(1932-1963) I am a country music sensation with a voice people say is never to be forgotten. I started “entertaining” my neighbors when I was only three.
Reading Level
Reading level: 6
Note: The reading levels of each kit (not just “page” as it says below) were determined by copying and pasting the kit (the play version), into The Readability Test Tool (see www.read-able.com).
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