How The Murder Mystery Company came to be!

President, Scott Cramton's Story

The Murder Mystery Company is the nation's most popular, interactive murder mystery group; billing its services as New York and LA's smash hit! However, the concept of a two hour, interactive murder mystery show that is partially scripted and improvisational began years before with a professional diagnosis on a fourth grade boy from Michigan; Scott Cramton was that boy.

To begin, Scott was born with a severely cleft palate; he was subjected to multiple reconstructive surgeries and enrolled in an aggressive speech therapy program at an early age. At 10 years old, Scotts' therapist told his parents that Scott would never be able to speak publicly, or even talk on a telephone since no one would understand what he said without seeing his mouth form words. Scott, being a strong-willed child, refused to accept this prognosis, which he felt was more like a death sentence rather than a professional diagnosis! Scott used all methods of speech therapy he could find and strived daily for the opportunity to prove his therapist wrong; he continued this work for 19 years of his life.

In addition to therapy, Scott also sought out activities that would enable him to speak publicly; naturally, his investigations led him to his school's theater department. Scott participated in school plays during his years of primary education until he graduated. His new-found love of acting played a pivotal role in his search for work as an actor.

Scott gained employment, working as a director, marketer and artistic creator for The Haunt, a seasonal haunted house open to the public at Halloween. While working, he also attended Grand Valley State University. Four years later Scott obtained his Bachelor of Science, majoring in Theatre; Scott viewed this personal victory as a message of encouragement for anyone who's ever been told they can't or had limitations imposed upon them through a professional's short-sighted diagnosis!

Over the next few years, Scott continued to work in the haunted house industry, helping to achieve an award-winning status for The Haunt and others including the Frenzy and Mt. Frighten. Even though scaring people was a fun job, Scott couldn't help but feel unfulfilled in his quest to act and entertain large groups of people; especially groups who didn't scream in terror at his mere presence! In his spare time, Scott was in the habit of writing short murder mysteries; his friends read these stories and always raved how much they enjoyed them. One day, he decided to form an improv troupe consisting of himself and some actor friends from Grand Rapids, Michigan. This small band of friends rehearsed and performed Scott's murder mysteries as small party entertainment, calling themselves Grimprov.

As time passed and Grimprov performances became more and more popular, Scott realized he had struck gold in murder mysteries! Unfortunately, he realized he?d have to rename the group in order to promote shows outside of West Michigan. In 2002, Scott had become the owner of The Murder Mystery Company. When he is not spending time in the office keeping the business running smoothly, Scott continues to write, travel to cities to either visit a company troupe performing one of his award-winning shows or diligently searching for another city and venue with the potential to host a new troupe. The Murder Mystery Company is the fulfillment of Scott?s dream in bringing the ultimate murder mystery experience to the masses!