Taking the Mystery Out of the Theater Business.

At each performance of local dinner theater company Mystery Caf[acute{e}], a baffling character always appears, although it was never written into the plot.

Here's a clue: it's not a bumbling son or a suspicious bridesmaid. It's not even the butler.

For this Downtown-based dinner theater company, the audience plays this unsuspecting role. And they can make or break a night.

"Very bizarre, but it happens," noted owner Julia Holladay, sitting in her office inside the Spreckels Theatre building Downtown. "If enough people are in a good mood, the whole place is in a good mood. If enough people in there are disgruntled about parking, hot, stressed out [ldots] if enough of that energy walks in that door, the room takes on that whole aura."

Her actors have an advantage over most performers: In their interactive setting, they can walk straight through the "fourth wall" that traditionally limits actors.

"You can win them over," Holladay said. "You can come right out there, in character, and say, 'Hey, you look like you had a hard day!' A regular play doesn't allow you to do that."

Unwritten characters aside, the show goes on Friday and Saturday nights at the banquet room at the Imperial House restaurant in Hillcrest. The venue has a capacity of 120, and customers are charged $42.50 on Fridays and $46.50 on Saturdays.

Projecting Success

At the end of this year, Holladay hopes to have sales that beat her '99 figures of $650,000. Mystery Caf[acute{e}]'s start-up cost of $10,000 is now the same amount of money the company invests in each show it launches, Holladay said.

The company's new show, "Shotgun Wedding Anniversary," began in March.

Its plot involves a 25th anniversary that was supposed to celebrate a "less-than-blissful" marriage and instead leaves a family fortune in the air.

The performance involves a cast of six, with dual and triple roles, four understudies and a production manager. During the week, there's an administrative staff of four.

Since its launch in 1990, Mystery Caf[acute{e}] has written an unusual story for itself, simply by surviving.

"In a town where 95 percent of the theater is nonprofit, Julia's got the longest-running commercial show in town," said Alan Riter, executive director of the San Diego Performing Arts League.

Mystery Caf[acute{e}]'s start was itself an unexpected twist, Holladay recalled.

In 1990, she had left her job an executive at an adult education company. She was planning to launch a similar business.

In one day, that changed. By that night, she went from the education company to dinner theater.

While investigating the adult education industry, one woman told her about a company then called Mystery Caf[acute{e}] in Boston.

"That was the spawning of the idea," Holladay recalled.

She had done mystery theater dinners in her education job. Although adult education was almost entirely different in content, the two businesses do have a common thread: both motivate potential customers to attend an event, she said.

The Boston company now calls itself Comedy Theatre Productions, and has ventured out into corporate events and student theater productions. Holladay's Mystery Caf[acute{e}] is looking into producing some of Comedy Theatre's West Coast shows.

From Classroom To Stage

"It wasn't like I had this huge passion to do dinner theater at all," Holladay said, recalling how she got into the business. "It was this huge passion to be able to start a business without having to go into hock for life, having a manageable plan and being able to be my own boss."

Holladay also wanted a business that wasn't "too off my radar screen," she recalled.

Performers were a familiar group, Holladay said. She had attended a small performing arts college, where she studied broadcasting before switching to a marketing major.

She called the East Coast company, and after talking to her husband and getting his personal and monetary support, flew there. Once she saw the business' operations, her instincts told her the idea could work in San Diego.

Upon arriving home, Holladay followed the other company's formula to set up her business. Her to-do list included hiring a director and cast, finding a restaurant banquet room she could rent for the Friday and Saturday performances and handling the initial marketing and promotions. She also insured and incorporated her company, Julia Holladay Productions Inc.

Seven weeks later, in May 1990, Holladay opened Mystery Caf[acute{e}]'s first show at the Imperial House. It was the "Murder at Caf[acute{e}] Noir," which had a "Casablanca" feel, she recalled.

Playing To The Crowd

Since then, several patterns have emerged.

Holladay describes her demographics as ages 35 and older, without a lot of young children.

Mystery Caf[acute{e}] tourist business dominates in the summers, but return business is its mainstay for eight months of the year.

For that reason, Holladay is careful to market to locals. She said residents often bring their visitors.

Along with the regular performances, Mystery Caf[acute{e}] does other events -- customized mysteries and taking their current show to a private party. According to Holladay, the company does two or three of them a month.

In running her company, Holladay's biggest challenges tend to involve communication.

It can be mediating a minor cast dispute, or logistical errors with getting special anniversary packages transferred over from the office to the show on the right night, she said.

At the office, Holladay and Mystery Caf[acute{e}]'s administrative staff take reservations, prepare paperwork and organize what's needed for the weekend shows. She also does weekly reports and handles group sales and finances.

Each week, Holladay also "tinkers" with the show. The Mystery Caf[acute{e}] won't change its show for about 15 months, she said.

Holladay also works with other entertainment projects. She's a producer for the successful Old Town musical "Forever Plaid," produced a cabaret series and, in the mid'90s, also produced an original musical called "Dixie Highway."

Creativity comes from trying new things, she said. She recalled her approach to starting the Mystery Caf[acute{e}].

"I was very naive, which is good," she said. "I think naivet[acute{e}] is very important when you're starting anything big [ldots] you have to have a little of that raw energy, where you think it's going to be one way and it turns out to be a little bit more difficult."

In other words, Holladay relishes the unexpected twists -- such as the daily audience element.

A recent example was a performance a couple weeks ago. The show wasn't filled to capacity but the actors had one of their best performances ever, Holladay said. It'll pay off in word-of-mouth advertising, she said.

"For me, it wasn't as good, because I don't have my money until I have a certain number of people in the doors, and the gravy's in the top -- but those people had such a great time that it worked out."

Mystery Caf[acute{e}]

Owner: Julia Holladay

Employees: 15

Sales in 1999: $650,000

Business: Murder mystery dinner theater