Gaylord Texan Mein Shaft: Fun Murder Dinner Theatre

The Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine, Texas presents "Mein Shaft" Murder-Mystery Dinner Theater through Nov. 10th.

The event, presented Friday and Saturday nights, tells the story of a "dumb as a box of rocks" millionaire miner who gets killed. The gourmet dinner is part of the fun of attending a murder-mystery dinner theater such as this one. What makes it different is that the actors perform among the tables instead of on a stage, creating an interactive experience.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and dinner and show begins at 8 p.m. Cost is $55 with tax and gratuity included. Due to frequent sellouts, reservations are strongly recommended. You are allowed to go back for seconds of the meal during the performance.

The Gaylord Texan, located on Lake Grapevine, is just minutes from the local airport.

The address is 1501 Gaylord Trail (Texas Star Theater at Riverwalk Café) and the phone number is 817-778-2215.

The first murder-mystery dinner theater experience started in 1986 at Mystery Café in Cambridge, Mass.

At Keith and Margo's Murder Mystery Texas in Hollywood, CA you can pay for public and private murder mystery parties for corporate or other events. They'll perform at restuarants, hotels, on trains, cruises, girls' nights out, birthdays, and first dates. The company calls itself sophisticated, interactive adventures to die for on their website, murdermysterytexas.com. The owners, Keith O'Leary and Margo Morrision have produced such events since the mid-1980s.

If you live in Dallas you can take advantage of their talent by having your experience at the Old Mill Restaurant where there is free, safe parking overlooking a gorgeous lagoon. The difficulty level is rated as complex. Enjoy a three-course meal while a hilarious homicide detective takes you through the obstacle course known as murder mystery theatre.

At some murder mystery dinner theatres groups are divided into teams where you test your trivia skills. These are often used for ice-breakers in corporate settings. You could even enjoy an entire murder mystery weekend by going to mysteryplayers.com from Austin to San Jose.

The largest dinner theater in the U.S. is the Chanhassan in Minnesota which opened in 1968. The 90,000-square-foot entertainment complex was built where a cornfield once stood. They even have a First Act Kids Camp.

There is also student dinner theatre where the facillitator walks the class through various tasks filled with wacky and music trivia.