Elvis is Dead: Podium RVA's Murder Mystery Dinner is Back!

By Kayleigh Crandell · September 8, 2026 · 4 min read read

Halloween season quickly approaches – make a plan to find out who killed Elvis and make a change for the youth of Richmond and Tri-Cities.

The Halloween candy is already back on the shelves, which means it's time for the annual question: what are you actually doing for the kids in our community this season, besides giving them candy?

Podium RVA has an answer, and it comes with dinner.

The Richmond nonprofit is bringing back its Murder Mystery Dinner Theater Show 3000 for a 3rd year, set for Friday, October 23 at The NewMarket Corporation from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

This time, the case opens at the Doo-Wop Diner in the fictional town of Ryedale, where Elvis has turned up dead in the garbage. Guests spend a three-act play working the suspect pool, piecing together motive, and arguing their way to a verdict over dinner. Whoever solves it earns bragging rights. Everyone who buys a ticket funds Podium's after-school literacy programs for the 2026-2027 school year.

Come alone as a Solo Sherlock, bring a partner as your Watson, or round up the whole Scooby gang. Businesses can sponsor a table of ten and get speaking time at the event, digital promotion, and early access to the auction. Podium's Communication and Events Director, Kavin Jackson, is the contact for anyone weighing which option makes sense, reachable at (804) 972-7712 or kavin@podiumrva.org, with full ticket details at podiumrva.org/mmdts.

Last year's case was The Transylvanian Trap, a vampire-themed whodunit built around the death of a hotel guest named John Gray. I was the one who “did it.” Yup, the unsuspecting nurse who was secretly running a black market blood trade. Trust me – things get weird for a fundraiser!

Xponent21 sponsored a table that night as a longtime supporter of Podium's work, and by the end of the three acts, my own colleagues had pieced together enough clues to point straight at me. I got outed as a murderer by the company I work for, in front of a room full of people I know and people I don’t. It’s safe to say we put the fun in fundraising at Podium.

That's the point, really. Podium builds its biggest fundraiser of the year around a format that forces people to think, ask questions, and communicate their way to an answer, because that's exactly the skill set the organization spends the rest of the year building in kids.

Since 2008, Podium RVA has worked to give young writers and communicators in the Richmond area the tools to succeed in school, career, and life, and more than 5,000 youth have come through its after-school and professional development programs. Year after year, over 90% of them graduate on time with a plan already in place for college or a career. A murder mystery is a strange vehicle for that mission on paper. In practice, it's the same muscle: gather the facts, ask the right question, communicate with those around you, say what you actually think out loud.

None of that requires a costume, a kid at home, or any particular interest in true crime. It requires a Friday night in October, a group of people willing to be a little ridiculous together, and a ticket. Solo, paired up, or as a full team from work, this is the kind of night that works as a date, a team outing, or an excuse to see friends you keep meaning to make plans with. It's also one of the more direct ways a Richmonder can put money behind the city's kids this fall instead of just the candy aisle.

Get your ticket at podiumrva.org/mmdts, and if your workplace is looking for a sponsorship that comes with an actual story to tell afterward, Xponent21 can vouch for how that goes.

Disclosure: The author is chair of Podium RVA's Young Professional Board