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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 8, 2016 | 32 Oakville hosts Murder at the High School Reunion by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" There's a high school reunion set to take place in Oakville later this month that many people are just `dying' to get to. Local residents Chelsea Larkin and Rikki Wright are staging an original murder mystery dinner theatre event and have selected Oakville as the site for the production's premiere. "Tickets are selling very well, and we expect the event to sell out (at a 160-person capacity)," said the organizers of Murder at the High School Reunion (MATHSR). The inaugural show is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16 at the Holiday Inn ­ Oakville Centre, 590 Argus Rd., at 6:30 p.m. "This show is unlike any that I've been in or seen," said Larkin, a comedian and sketch comedy artist. "It's not just an interactive murder mystery event. It's also a musical, which adds a whole new dimension to this kind of production." The show features the typical high school stereotypes -- such as the prom queen, jock and nerd -- along with the former high school principal, who is hired for the night as a DJ. When one of the guests suddenly dies, the reunion attendees are challenged to unravel the clues and help police officer, Dustin DaWind, solve the "whodunit." No stranger to murder mysteries, Larkin, whose sketch troupe L'il Rasgals regularly performs on the Canadian comedy circuit, has Rikki Wright appeared in numerous whodunit productions. Wright is a writer and producer of pantomimes for Canadian audiences and in the last five years has ventured into TV (Close Encounters -- Discovery Channel) and radio (Doctor Who: Dark Journey). He is currently the face of Curl- | submitted photo Chelsea Larkin The show is capped off with a retro dance party for guests. "The song parodies sprinkled throughout the show advance the plot, and in a highly entertaining way," added Larkin. "I couldn't be happier with our cast. Having been immersed in the Canadian comedy scene for years, I | photo courtesy of the Bella Agency ing Canada as Angus McStone -- a campaign aimed at spreading awareness and the popularity of curling. "Guests will have a chance to interact with the actors, take selfies and the like, all while having a rocking good time," Wright said of the murder-mystery. can say with certainty that we have some of the very best comedians in the country appearing in this show." Both Larkin and Wright are cast members of the murder mystery. For more on the cast or to purchase tickets, visit www.mathsr. com. Chinese musical and theatrical performances will take centre stage at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Saturday, Jan. 16. The 2016 New Year Charity Show, presented by Sixteen Mile Creek Theatre Troupe of the Oakville Chinese Network (OCN), is not only a celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year on Feb. 8, but an opportunity for local Chinese residents to give back to the community in which they live. Proceeds from the showcase of Chinese culture will be donated to New Year Charity Show on Jan. 16 will benefit new Oakville hospital the new Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, which opened last month on Dec. 13. "We know that the new Oakville hospital has already been fundraising for years. This year, we would like to help out and increase awareness of the Chinese community in Oakville to give some contribution to the local populace," said OCN President Rena Lu in an interview with the Oakville Beaver last month. Lu explained Canada and China has differences in their governmental roles to provide funding when it comes to hospitals. "Inside the hospital comes from contributions from the community. Rena Lu We need to let the Chinese residents know, especially newcomers, it is a totally different system from China. It really relies on fundraising from the community," she said. The charity show, which will be nearly two and a half hours long, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts' Willson Auditorium, 130 Navy St. It is called Heart of Thanksgiving and is directed by dancer Jenny Xu with performances by Zhenguo Zhang, national music composer, Chunjie Wang, flutist and professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada, martial artists Tianyun Luo and Zhenglun Wang and lutanist Lan Ye, among others. "We will use the songs, dances and art performances to express this theme (Heart of Thanksgiving). We invited the famous artists in the community. They've been famous since they immigrated to Canada. They're very popular in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)," said Lu. Tickets cost $20 until Jan. 10 ($25 as of Jan. 11), and can be purchased online at www.oakvillecentre.ca.