A Recipe for Disaster

The Dangerously Delicious Murder Mystery Dinner Experience created for Historic Huguenot Street (2018)

Written, directed and managed by Amber Neilson

The year is 1958, and Elsie Oates has invited you to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of her restaurant, the Old Fort. However, the pleasant evening is derailed when a mischievous visitor arrives and causes quite a stir. The dinner guests are split up and sent on a hunt across the historic district to uncover the truth in this whodunit immersive dinner-theater experience.

Guests were invited to arrive in their best midcentury attire and enjoy a meal inspired by classic Alice Crans recipes. Guests also had the opportunity to play a role in the evening and portray a 1958 New Paltz resident.

Zach Gibson as Harold Wood and Anika Krempl as Alice Crans

Liz Lococo as Mary Fisher and Amber Neilson as Helen Wood

A Holiday on Huguenot Street

A theatrical adventure across centuries of seasonal celebrations at Historic Huguenot Street (2017-2019)

Written, directed and managed by Amber Neilson

Guests explored the seasonal traditions of the French, Dutch, and Munsee Lenape people of the early Hudson Valley, leading up to the commercialization of Christmas during the Victorian era. Immersed in the sights, smells, and sounds of winter celebrations, the audience participated in the telling of traditional Lenape stories in a replica wigwam, prepared for the arrival of Sinterklaas in a Dutch colonial home, and sang along with Victorian wassailers across the historic district.

Samuel Conti and Willa Voorhis as the Hasbrouck children

Guests explore traditional stories in a replica Munsee Lenape wigwam

Davi Haber as Gertrude Deyo

Alyssa Bruno as The Deyo Housekeeper