Beef & Boards opens 2025 season with thrilling ride of twists & turns in “Murder on the Orient Express”

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre gets on track for its 2025 Season with its premiere production of Agatha Christie’s fast-moving Murder on the Orient Express. Now on stage, this clever adaptation of the celebrated novel includes glamour, intrigue, and suspense – and a dose of humor.

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside.

World-famous detective Hercule Poirot (Andrew Kindig) shows Countess Andrenyi (Bailey Blaise), left, and Monsieur Bouc (Eddie Curry), right, a gun he found in the compartment of a murdered passenger aboard the Orient Express in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of Murder on the Orient Express. (Photo provided)

As it happens, the famous detective Hercule Poirot had booked a first-class compartment on the train, which is run by his former friend and colleague, Monsieur Bouc. Among the others on board are an aging Russian princess, her Swedish companion, a Hungarian countess, a Minnesota housewife, a Scottish colonel, an English governness, and the tycoon’s anxious secretary.

Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again. With all of its twists and turns, Murder on the Orient Express is a wild ride.

Mary Debenham (Madison Pullins) and Colonel Arbuthnot (Trey DeLuna) steal a moment alone on the back of the Orient Express in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of Murder on the Orient Express. (Photo provided)

Andrew Kindig, last seen in The Music Man at Beef & Boards, stars as the detective Hercule Poirot, with Eddie Curry as Monsieur Bouc. Making their Beef & Boards debuts are Madison Pullins as Mary Debenham, Bailey Blaise as Countess Adrenyi, and Trey DeLuna as Colonel Arbuthnot. Returning to the Beef & Boards stage and rounding out the cast are Suzanne Stark as Princess Dragomiroff, Devan Mathias as Greta Ohlsson, Lanene Charters as Helen Hubbard, Scot Greenwell as Hector MacQueen, Jon McHatton as Samuel Ratchett, Ben Asaykwee as Michel the conductor, and Jaddy Ciucci as the head waiter.

Murder on the Orient Express is rated PG and is on stage for 39 performances through Feb. 9 in the intimate space of Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Due to strong demand, an evening performance on Jan. 22 has just been added. Tickets range from $57 to $85 and include Chef Larry Stoops’ dinner buffet and select beverages. Children under age 3 are not admitted.

Helen Hubbard (Lanene Charters) flirts with Monsieur Bouc (Eddie Curry) in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of Murder on the Orient Express. (Photo provided)

To see the complete performance schedule and to purchase tickets online, visit BeefandBoards.com. Tickets are also available by calling the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre Box Office at (317) 872-9664. Discounts are available to groups of 20 or more. Call the Group Sales department at (317) 872-0503, or email groups@beefandboards.com for details.

Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Indiana’s only year-round professional dinner theatre, has been serving up exceptional entertainment since 1973.

Detective Hercule Poirot (Andrew Kindig), center, reveals to the room of suspects who he believes killed Samuel Ratchett in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of Murder on the Orient Express. (Photo provided)