Free 'Perfect Crime' App Brings You Into the Murder-Mystery Action

How does Perfect Crime, New York's longest-running Off-Broadway play, continue to be a success after nearly 10,000 performances? One way is by keeping up with the times, adapting the 25-year-old show by updating cultural references and adding new technology to the set. And now the show even has a new app for the iPhone and iPad!

The free app is game in which players try to shoot the characters in the murder mystery Perfect Crime, while dodging gunshots and oncoming shots and facing a time limit. Players who score more than 500,000 points in one game can take their device to the Perfect Crime box office at the Snapple Theater Center at 210 West 50th St. in NYC and receive a prize.

"We initiated this project because we specifically wanted to come up with a new way to engage potential audiences who are waiting in line at the TKTS booth," said John Capo of John Capo Public Relations. "When you have hundreds or thousands of potential customers lining up, many of whom have not yet decided on a show, an app is a great way to brand your product. Off-Broadway has to adapt to people's expectations, and people expect to be engaged in new and innovative ways."

Perfect Crime has been running since 1987, making it the longest running play in New York theater history. The show will celebrate it's 10,000th performance in September. Catherine Russell has been starring as Margaret Thorne Brent since opening night, missing only four performances in that time, which landed her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.  

The app can be downloaded for free at the iTunes Store by searching for "Perfect Crime."

-- Ali Mierzejewski