See photos from "Rock 'n' Roll Over Dead"!
REVIEWED IN VOYA! Anyone's Guess #1: "Death Gets a Red Card" was reviewed in the February, 1998 issue of VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates), Professional Reviews, page 410:
Comment #2 (from another branch of the author's home system in suburban Cleveland, OH): "We got a turnout of 27 kids and they had a good time. The staff had fun as well. Thanks for the idea!"
Comment #3: (quoted in The Times, Solon,Ohio): "Whether or not they were on target [in figuring out who did it] participants said they'll be back" [if offered a chance to participate in another mystery program].
Comment #4: "We had such fun with your mystery program [Death Gets a Red Card] last summer, we'd like to try another. Please send: Anyone's Guess #2: The Disappearance of Angela Day."
Comment #5: "This is the second of your mystery programs we have
purchased and look forward to the publication of your third...They seem
very well done and we enjoy using them with our YA's."
Tip #1: At the Solon branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library, there was an educational component to the mystery. Players first had to practice some simple searches of library materials in order to gain admittance to the mystery. Help in running the program for the large group (54 kids who worked in teams) came from the head of the local "Community Action Team" and a Solon police officer.
Tip #2: To draw attention to our mystery night, I set up the "locker" (created from a tall, narrow cardboard box) for "The Disappearance of Angel Day" in the YA area. A sign that read What Secrets Might This Locker Hold? went next to the closed locker. The nearby poster and flyers gave details. When we did "Death Gets a Red Card," I used the "bushes and library wall" prop created for the first evidence scene, plus a sign, Has a crime been committed here? (The large cardboard "wall" was set up in front of the YA desk, near the library exit. I was accused of hiding behind it. Well....maybe!)
Tip #3 (Nancy Skonezny, YA librarian at the Solon Branch): "We had
the 50 students meet in our meeting room and asked them to get into groups
of 3 or 4. We then divided the kids into two large groups for the
mystery. Each large group had 8 character groups of 3 or 4 students each
representing one character. One person might be the one to stand up and
read the clues, another would write down the clues, another would wear
the costume. Each larger group of 24 operated separately. It
was like having two mysteries going on at the same time.
When one group took their planned pizza break
the other group would go into the crime scene and then the groups would
switch places. Also, one group would gather in the children's room and
one group would gather in the adult section when we would talk about our
characters. We gathered all together at the end to read the solution and
hand out prizes."
Tip #4 Using YA advisory groups: I recently had the Council of Advisory TeenS (CATS) go through "Death Gets a Red Card." They sat around a table and I led them through the mystery, describing characters and scenes and passing out the original evidence graphics from the kit for each scene we "visited" in our imaginations. The teens then had a good understanding of how the mystery would go, plus they had fun guessing the answers. Then we talked about what evidence we would like to enhance. For example, one girl wrote out the "love poem" on lined notebook paper in her own handwriting. When it came time to set up the evidence scenes, no CATS were present, so I set them up myself. But one girl showed up in time to add some clothing and sports props she brought from home. She also dressed as the drug-addict brother and played his part, as well as helping with refreshments and otherwise assisting with the mystery. (Hurrah, Dana!) With the CATS, I've tried to find ways for them to contribute, while preparing for the possibility that the responsibility will all fall back on me. When the CATS participate, it multiplies the fun.
Tip #5: Miriam Neiman has graciously allowed a
link to WELLES-TURNER PUBLIC LIBRARY's website, which contains a page of
pictures from their successful production of "Rock 'n' Roll Over Dead":
http://www.wtmlib.com/ya/main.html
She also had some suggestions: the large screen in one photo was
used to project a videotape made with the three "newscasts" shown at the
appropriate times. (She even added a world map in the background. Talk
about realism!) Miriam's other comments:
"The general feedback I got from the kids was that they enjoyed
the program. I think everyone said they would definitely or probably
do it again. Several of them did say that they were a little confused or
that they wanted to do more. I'm not sure how much more they could do,
since they went from place to place and examined all that evidence and
solved the mystery! I had older kids play the roles, and maybe some
of the kids would like to
have done that themselves. But I'd still have kids acting out the
roles if I did it again. I think it adds to the spirit of the thing if
there are actors they can cross examine, etc. I might even pad the actors'
roles a little (would that be acceptable to you?) [Janet's comment: You're
welcome to add whatever you can cook up!] since I think they
wanted to do more, too. But I might jazz up the detective roles
a bit by swearing them in as deputies first, and stuff like that.
Miriam also told me that no one correctly guessed the motive in "Rock
'n' Roll over DEAD." She said "None of the groups caught onto the plagiarism.
I had a hard time getting them to look at the song lyrics near the body!
I even made sure that they went back to the scene of the crime after finding
the other set of lyrics, and they still either bypassed or missed the significance
of the lyrics. So one thing I know for next time is to spend a LOT of time
on the crime scene evidence." This is apparently a difficult concept
for this age group. One help might be to have someone invent the music
and tape both versions of the song, one in Kay's voice and one in Morris
Jamison's. Hearing them might make their similarity clearer. It might also
be helpful to point up the word "plagiarism" by marking it with a bright
sticky-note in a dictionary. While older teens would see this as too obvious
to have something pointed out in a dictionary, younger teens might find
this helpful in underscoring motive.