Where Everybody Shows Their Fangs: ‘Boston Bar Bloodsuckers’ Takes A Bites Out Of Burbank (REVIEW)

Boston Bar Bloodsuckers is a great time, marrying the best parts of a murder mystery with a scripted sitcom parody. If you enjoyed Cricklewood Immersive’s last show, The Sleepover, you’ll find yourself grinning along with this one, too.

It was The Sleepover — one of the few interactive shows I felt really worked over Zoom — that made me interested in this particular show.

That’s because, well, I don’t typically love murder mysteries. I always feel like they move so quickly that I miss out on key information. I don’t get equal time with each suspect, and I never get to ask the suspects the questions I want.

In fact, I thought I’d fully sworn them off after I attended one in which they decided that I, an audience member, would play a character. I spent the entire evening being interrupted every few minutes, including during dinner service, to answer the same questions over and over again with the limited info provided in a manilla envelope. Frankly, I’m too awkward for that.

But, I decided to put my faith in Cricklewood again, and I’m glad I did.

The show takes place in a local vampire watering hole — played by The Roguelike Tavern in Burbank—very much in the vein, no pun intended, of Cheers. Only here, it’s not “where everybody knows your name” but “where everybody shows their fangs.”

All the usual suspects are there with slightly modified names, including Clyde, the mailman; Franklin, the pretentious psychiatrist, and Carol, the wisecracking waitress.

Then there’s Lilith, Franklin’s cold, uptight ex-wife.

Lilith — played by Ona Zimhart, who does a spot-on Bebe Neuwirth — is the reason you’re here. It’s the vampire queen’s 200th birthday and the 30th anniversary of when she turned you and all the other regulars into vampires.

Pinning an entire show around the fact that Cheers has a character named Lilith, the name of the mother of all vampires in numerous vampire shows, TV shows, and books, is the kind of thing that might occur to me if I were really, really high. It’s brilliant, and I love it.

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Upon Lilith’s arrival, scenes play out among the regulars, illuminating underlying tensions between the long-time friends. You’ll want to pay attention not just to pick up clues, but because, well, it’s good. The actors nail their respective Cheers counterparts, and the script has a number of genuinely funny moments.

Eventually, you’ll have the opportunity to mingle, too. VIPS can participate in a speed-dating session called “neckworking.” Others might want to belly up to the bar (the Roguelike does have a full cocktail menu), sign Lilith’s birthday card, or join Clyde in a round of ’90s trivia.

Unfortunately, it all comes to a screeching halt when one of the vamps dies — like, for real, this time. How it happened is unknown, but the vamps agree on one thing: it’d be better to solve the murder among themselves than get any sort of authority involved.

And so, the murder mystery begins. Guests are divided into smaller groups to quiz the suspects before deciding who the killer must have been.

Not to harp too much on how little I often care for murder mysteries, but here we are again. I often find that the dramatic conclusion can be shaky, at best. I once attended one where not a single audience member had figured out the killer, despite everyone trying their best.

That’s not the case with Boston Bar Bloodsuckers. Everything came together logically, and it definitely helped to be on a team of people who had — thanks to their various vantage points — seen and heard a variety of things.

To that end, the best advice I can give you is to definitely use any free time you have to get up, explore, and gather additional clues. And if you can, don’t sit at the bar when the night begins. You’re going to want to hear all the hot goss, which can be difficult to pick up over the sound of shaking ice.

Those tips would have definitely helped me get more into the story and have a better idea of who I thought dunnit, as they say. None of the areas I might have checked out are places one wouldn’t typically go when at a bar. I’m just so used to staying put in immersive experiences until explicitly told not to that I did far less exploring than I should have.

After the verdict, definitely stick around for some nostalgic TV theme karaoke, and maybe some poutine and a cocktail. Roguelike’s a great bar full of nerds and immersive fans, which, if you’re reading this, we suspect you are. It’s cool, us too.

Boston Bar Bloodsuckers plays at The Roguelike Tavern for two more dates through Oct. 3. Tickets are $50 to $125.

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