Featured Post from Southern Utah University

Sherlock Holmes Returns - Writing an Interactive Audience Show

Mar 9, 2020

2 min

Peter Sham

A world-renowned playwright, Peter Sham is bringing his writing back to the stage with Sherlock Holmes Returns, a musical premiering at the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in New Jersey on March 10, 2020.


Peter Sham, associate professor of theatre at Southern Utah University, has been a regional actor/director for over 35 years. He is known nationally and internationally for his work as bookwriter/lyricist for "Lend Me A Tenor The Musical" (Brad Carroll, composer).


“Writing for dinner theatre, especially an interactive audience show, is perhaps most exciting because of the inherently interactive nature the venue already brings. It's the whole experience from dining and dessert to the performance that makes it exciting to write for. The challenge of how to use all these elements and create a seamless entertainment throughout the whole audience experience is what drew me and excites me the most.”


Sherlock Holmes Returns is Sham’s most recent production for the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse, which was founded in 1981. The Playhouse puts on Broadway performances in a dinner theatre environment, creating an immersive experience that has drawn Sham in and reinvents the American idea of dinner theatre by directly involving the audience.


The production centers around Holmes and Watson, presenting their relationship in a style reminiscent of Abbott and Costello as the pair work to find a hidden treasure and confront Moriarty. The dinner theatre environment lends itself to a mix of scripted acting and improv that makes the productions all the more exciting, as no two shows are ever the same.




Sham has directed over 85 productions throughout the Eastern United States and Utah and has served as artistic director of the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center in Hanover, Pennsylvania and Bristol Valley Playhouse in Naples, New York. He is familiar with the media and available for an interview. Simply visit his profile. 

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Peter Sham

Peter Sham

Professor of Theatre Arts

Specializing in Suzuki movement, directing and producing musical theatre, and character development for actors

Stage DirectionVoice and Speech TrainingDirecting Musical TheaterVoice Over Producing

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