We made our approach by boat in a scene that felt like it was straight out of The White Lotus — being ferried to a private island resort in the Florida Keys.
On the boat with me and the other guests was Garrett, a man with a familiar face who clearly had secrets. We were all set to join the Circles, a wellness “collective,” where I could let my old self go and which was most certainly, absolutely not, by any means, a cult.
I should probably tell you that I was not actually nearly roped into a new age-y cult. No, the boat ride was actually the first introduction to a three-day, immersive theatrical murder mystery experience available to Capital One Venture X cardholders.
Adahlia Cole Photography
And “Garrett” was actually Neil Patrick Harris, who, like the other actors involved, remained in character throughout the experience.
“Our goal is to bring cardholders an immersive experience they can’t get anywhere else in the luxury travel, culinary, and entertainment sectors,” Monica Weaver, Head of Branded Card Partnerships and Experiences at Capital One, told PEOPLE.
It’s the second straight year Harris has partnered with the company, with last year’s extravaganza held at Canyon Ranch in Massachusetts.
“Gameplay in an immersive theater experience is really tricky,” Harris tells PEOPLE about putting the experience together with his creative team. “I think we did great, I can’t wait for the next one.”
We exited the boat onto Little Palm Island, a stunning luxury resort and spa, which was booked out specially for the murder mystery.
Greeting the guests were several acolytes, clad in loose-fitting ecru-colored outfits, who taught us different hand signs and greetings used by the collective. I felt bad for not packing more earth tones.
I learned that the Circles was started by two men: Seb Sinclair and Warren Jeffries — better known as The Sparrow.
At dinner that first night, guests were told Seb had yet to arrive on the island, much to the consternation of the acolytes.
Taking Seb’s place in the interim was Hunter, who’d been on the island for two years. He and The Sparrow sorted people into one of two groups, the Hoof and the Feather.
Adahlia Cole Photography
The Sparrow told me the earth had informed him I was a Hoof, and I was given a wooden amulet, signifying my new standing among the collective.
That night, I met Bobby, another acolyte, who was something of a loose cannon. He invited me to a secret blackjack game in the spa after dinner.
Having always wanted to rack up alarming gambling debts, I went to the game with a few other guests who scored invites, and proceeded to lose $1 million in less than an hour. But I was able to learn that Bobby, who not-so-secretly carried a gun, had bold ideas for the Circles and wanted to solicit investments for an app he was developing to expand the reach of the cul— collective.
When I returned to my room that night, I found multiple notes, including one from Garrett, who asked me to meet him the next day near the outhouse.
As it turned out, Garrett was actually searching for his long-lost daughter and he needed my help to steal a list of names from Sumner — who was something like Seb and The Sparrow’s chief of staff.
Colin Peck
I was given a walkie-talkie by Garrett and tasked with distracting Sumner so he and the two other guests could break into her suite room. I also had to get her to reveal the combination to the safe containing the list. Unfortunately, they misheard me over the crackly radio and we accidentally got locked out of the safe, which allowed me more time to riff with an A-list actor. We did eventually complete our mission.
That afternoon, I was invited to a drum circle with Hunter, who revealed that Seb still had not arrived and said the money we had pledged to the Circles was being kept in a safe on the island.
The day’s events concluded with a five-course meal with all the guests and acolytes. Toward the end of dinner, tensions began to boil over.
Bobby got into a verbal spat with The Sparrow after revealing his plan for his app (featuring a mysterious AI figure portrayed by Harris’ husband David Burtka), while Garrett discovered that his daughter, who had no recollection of her past and carried around a stuffed puppy that supposedly carried all her memories, had indeed been on the island.
Colin Peck
The biggest shock of the night was when gunshots rang out immediately followed by the sound of metal clanging. Then, stumbling into the dining room came a bloody Sparrow, who collapsed and died.
The next day, we were tasked with ruling out suspects, with missions that featured breaking onto a boat for an autopsy report and stealing an iPad. The experience concluded with Harris, as Garrett, channeling Columbo (without the Brooklyn accent) interrogating the acolytes about their alibis, or lack thereof, and revealing that Seb had been dead the whole time after falling off a cliff in Mexico.
The Sparrow’s killer finally revealed himself when Hunter, who seemed like such a nice guy, grabbed Bobby’s gun before admitting the awful truth and also that he’d stolen our money. He had been dead set on revenge after the Circles had wronged him as a teenager.
Colin Peck
After a spat that ended with Bobby being thrown into actual shark-infested waters, Hunter got onto a boat which sped away. Luckily, Garrett had figured out something was amiss and contacted the FBI, who had infiltrated the boat ahead of time, giving us a thrilling happy ending.
The dream excursion concluded with a delightful banquet dinner on the beach with my fellow guests and the actors, now all out of character. The icing on the cake was when I was awarded Best Percussionist for my drum circle exploits.
Having never before experienced immersive theater and suddenly being thrown into interacting with in-character professional actors, my trip to Little Palm Island was a blast and is something I’ll always remember fondly.
“When someone tasks you with sneaking onto a boat without getting caught and you accomplish that, the sense of pride you get from it can be more profound than we were anticipating when we were writing it,” Harris says, speaking to PEOPLE after the event. “It was really fun to start interacting with very skeptical people, who by the end became cohorts in collusion.”
Now, Harris is hoping the whodunits will continue, perhaps on an even grander scale.
“I do certainly see it scaling up in interesting ways,” says Harris. “I think this could be done internationally, which would be really fun.”
