‘Scooby Doo’ needs you at Joliet show

"Scooby-Doo Live Musical Mysteries" will be at the Rialto Square Theatre March 10. | Courtesy of Rialto

Updated: March 9, 2013 4:17PM

When Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. Gang including the characters of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma take the stage at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet on March 10, the audience will be encouraged to help them solve a mystery.

“We could not do the show without them,” said Michele Dumoulin, who plays Velma in “Scooby-Doo Live Musical Mysteries,” about the audience. “They are like another character in the show. It is an interactive show and the audience literally helps us solve the mystery. For example, when they see a ghost on stage they are to yell out ‘ghost.’ We also ask them to clap along when we are performing as the band. Sometimes I will turn to the audience and ask them, ‘Which way did the ghost go?’ and they respond to that.”

“Scooby-Doo Live Musical Mysteries,” presented by Warner Bros. and Life Like Touring, is a touring musical theatre show based on the popular Scooby-Doo TV franchise seen on the Cartoon Network and other stations. It features favorite characters from the long-running animated television series.

In the show, a trouble-making ghost is haunting the theater and Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Scooby-Doo are on their way in the Mystery Machine to crack the case.

“We get a letter that a ghost is haunting the theater,” Dumoulin said about the plot. “We have to solve the mystery or the ghost will close the theater. So we disguise ourselves as a band to work undercover in the theater to solve the mystery.”

The show features several musical numbers including the Scooby-Doo theme song, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?,” and original tunes like “Round Every Corner” and “We’re Mystery Inc.”

In researching her role, Dumoulin watched many Scooby-Doo TV shows.

“The money I have spent on Scooby-Doo DVDs is embarrassing,” she said with a laugh. “But you have to get the voice right, you have to get the body language right.”

Dumoulin believes the show’s appeal is based on the fact that it is not just for children.

“The music is really fun and the characters are spot on for the TV show,” she said. “But the show is for adults too. Like the TV show, the lines are witty and there is some snarkiness that the kids don’t get but that the adults understand.”

And unlike some children’s theater, “Scooby-Doo Live Musical Mysteries” does not have any deep message to convey.

“There is no real moral to the show,” Dumoulin said. “It’s just a ‘Have a grand old time’ type of show.”

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