Butch MaxwellPlaywright

Interactive Musical-Comedy Murder Mystery

A Very Hellmark
Christmas Special

Christmas is saved. Somebody isn’t.

A picture-perfect town. A returning Hollywood star. An inevitable romance. And one runaway bulldozer that has not read the script.

Enter ChristmastownProduction information

Written by Butch Maxwell & Bert Furioli

Live from ChristmastownMidnight demolition pending

Tonight’s Holiday Presentation

The perfect Christmas movie—until the formula goes off script.

It is Christmas Eve in Christmastown, East Dakota, where the lights stay up all year and holiday cheer is practically mandatory.

But Evil Incorporated owns the town—and plans to flatten it at midnight. Noel Kringle believes the Christmas spirit can save her hometown. Her best hope arrives in the form of Sexton Hardcastle III, a vain Hollywood star returning as the parade’s grand marshal after decades away.

Add an ambitious television reporter, a thoroughly disreputable Santa stand-in, an instant holiday romance, and several musical numbers, and Christmastown appears headed for the predictably heartwarming conclusion everyone expects. Then a runaway bulldozer kills someone.

The audience must question the suspects, examine the clues, and identify the killer before Christmastown can claim its extremely unconventional Christmas miracle.

5Principal performers
3M · 2W
60Approximate minutes
of scripted performance
2–2½Hours for the complete
dinner-theatre experience
∞Holiday spirit
and audience mischief

Tonight’s Featured Players

Five suspects.
Zero silent nights.

Five sharply drawn comic roles collide in a town where sentimentality, celebrity, and breaking news all demand top billing.

01

Uncle Santa

A boozy, disheveled Christmastown fixture who insists he is merely a man wearing the suit. His contempt for holiday cheer is matched only by his devotion to his flask.

02

Noel Kringle

Uncle Santa’s tirelessly optimistic niece, proprietor of Tinsel Town, inventor of questionable holiday merchandise, and Christmastown’s most determined defender.

03

Sexton Hardcastle III

A vain Hollywood celebrity returning as parade grand marshal. Christmastown remembers a local boy; Sexton remembers why he left.

04

Loren Lipschitz

Sexton’s high-strung, long-suffering publicist, frantically protecting his employer’s image—and his own precarious future.

05

Lulu Lemieux

An ambitious Eye Nitwit’s News reporter who can turn romance, catastrophe, or mild skin irritation into breaking news.

Everyone Gets Into the Act

The easiest laugh your guests will ever earn.

Volunteers need no preparation, memorization, improvisation, or theatrical experience. Their appearances are brief, easy, and deliberately crafted to garner a laugh for the participant.

The actors select, coach, guide, and support each guest throughout the bit—so participants feel successful, audiences stay engaged, and no one is left on stage wondering what to do next.

The Participant PromiseEasy to do. Fun to watch. Built to get the guest a laugh.

Audience appearances include

  1. 01A Christmas-present wrapping exchange
  2. 02The mayor’s key-to-the-city presentation
  3. 03The Evil Incorporated representative
  4. 04A snow-globe haggling pantomime
  5. 05A table recruited to point and laugh
  6. 06An increasingly unruly Nutcracker dance
  7. 07Suspect questioning and Detective Cards

Built for Holiday Events

One complete mystery.
Whatever your venue.

Dinner theatresCommunity theatresFundraisersPerforming arts organizationsCivic organizationsCorporate & private events

For Producers and Directors

Production Information & Script

Bring A Very Hellmark Christmas Special to your audience. Download a sample directly from this site, view the complete script and production information on New Play Exchange, or request the materials needed to explore a production.

DownloadA SamplePDF · No registration requiredView on NPXComplete ScriptProduction information & scriptRequestPerformance MaterialsReading copy · Detective Cards · Licensing

The sample downloads directly from this site—no registration required. The complete script is available to NPX subscribers, or you may request a reading copy and production information directly.

One of Eight Complete Christmas Mysteries

Choose your own
holiday trouble.

Every mystery in the collection—including each Slay Ride—works as a complete, independent production. No previous show or audience knowledge is required.

Explore all Christmas mysteries