CLUELESS NO MORE
As a kid, I never played the Hasbro board game Clue, nor did I ever see the Paramount Pictures movie based on that board game. But at opening night on July 31, I was absolutely wowed by the sensational national touring production of Clue at The Ahmanson Theatre, on stage through August 25.
Honestly, I went in thinking this would be some kind of puffed up kitsch piece, but I was right there with the rest of the wildly enthusiastic audience.
The Company
Like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Clue has a cult following. Center Theatre Group’s Artistic Director Snehal Desai welcomed the audience, fanning himself with a peacock feather, asking who brought murder props (fully sanctioned), and many hands shot up, holding candlesticks, ropes and wrenches, although I did not personally see any lead pipes or daggers.
Never mind the pretzel-twisty whodunit plot, filled with blackmail and mayhem behind the multiple murders. The play is so chock-full of characters that it’s amazing we can keep them all straight: A government goon, a military man, a madam, a society lady, a professor, and a widow are all hiding something.
The Company
At first it seems a bit complex: a dark and stormy night; a spooky isolated mansion; comically ominous music and startling sound effects; and a TV spewing news about 1950s HUAC-era politics, praising Joe McCarthy.
Yvette the maid (Elizabeth Yancey), Wadsworth the butler (a magnificent Mark Price) and The Cook (Mariah Burks, who plays other incidental roles) are preparing for the six guests, who’ve all received a letter from their mysterious, invisible host Mr. Boddy (Alex Syiek, who also covers other characters), inviting them to dinner, and giving them pseudonyms.
The Company
The doorbell rings and pompous Colonel Mustard (John Treacy Egan) is first on the scene, followed by the black-veiled, five-time widow Mrs. White (Tari Kelly) who says, “Husbands should be like Kleenex, soft, strong and disposable.” Next up, it’s prim-and-proper Mrs. Peacock (Joanna Glushak), who is quite the lush. Mrs. White is startled to see that Yvette and Mrs. Peacock recognize the Cook. Finally, Professor Plum (Jonathan Spivey) and Miss Scarlet (Michelle Elaine), though they do not know each other, arrive together. Everyone is escorted into the lounge.
The Company
From the lounge they move to the dinner table, where their host has still not put in an appearance. One clue emerges: everyone lives in Washington DC. There’s a funny moment when Professor Plum asks, “Oh, is this about the Red Scare?” and Mr. Green protests, “I’m not a communist! I’m a Republican!” And then a second clue drops, as Wadsworth reads aloud the letter they all received: they’re being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy, who intends to expose their dirty secrets to each other. There’s a briefcase containing evidence of their crimes and he’s been tape recording Wadsworth’s revelations of their secrets in the study. It’s a diabolic plot, guaranteeing that if one of them tells on the other, they’re essentially hanging themselves.
Elisabeth Yancey and John Shartzer
Wadsworth distributes six wrapped packages, each containing a potentially lethal weapon: a candlestick, a lead pipe, a rope, a revolver, a wrench and a dagger. They will all be deployed in the murders. Boddy reveals he is going to double their blackmail payments unless they silence Wadsworth by killing him, because he knows all their secrets.
From there, the play unspools wildly, speeding ahead to the insanely complicated conclusion. One by one, the murders mount: Mr. Boddy, the Cook, Yvette, an unfortunate motorist who got stuck in the storm, a cop and a singing telegram girl meet their makers with the tools provided. “Three murders in three minutes,” says Wadsworth. “That’s our best record,” Colonel Mustard replies. Plum reminds them that there’s been a total of six. And Mrs. White says, “This is getting serious.”
Mark Price and The Company
The staging is phenomenal, starting with scenic design by Lee Savage, who creates a grandly eccentric old manor house with revolving stages revealing the study, the lounge, the kitchen, rooms where many a death will occur and many doors will be slammed. Lighting designer Ryan O’Gara masterfully sets the mood, creating tension with lights-on, lights-off moments that both hide and reveal the action. Sound designer Jeff Human plays with the horror movie cliché of thunder and lightning and startles the characters and the audience with gongs and other jump-out-of-your-seat sounds. The costumes, created by Jen Capri, are period picture-perfect, colorful and fully reflective of the characters wearing them.
Tari Kelly and Mark Price
Guided by Robert Westley’s fight direction, director Casey Hushion pulls together the intricately choreographed ensemble and individuals, who offer stuntman-level physical performances and impeccable verbal comic timing. During a particular epic death scene, one character flip-flops like a fresh-caught fish out of water, giving J.D. Vance a run for his money. And if you’ve ever tried doing the limbo, you’ll appreciate the extraordinarily deep, back-bending dip that John Shartzer, as Mr. Green, executes to avoid a falling chandelier. Not to mention how many dead bodies he finds himself under.
Tari Kelly and John Shartzer
I also loved how Composer and Music Supervisor Michael Holland doles out the music “stings,” those little “ta-da” moments that promise a reveal but only lead to another dead end (yes, that was intentional). Based on the 1985 film version by Jonathan Lynn, Sandy Rustin‘s script — with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price — is outstanding: the plot, the language, the sexual innuendos, double-entendres, silly puns and super-fast verbal pacing are consistently clever.
Who actually did it? Not gonna say but you will be surprised. Some of the most hysterical moments in this play come toward the end, as Wadsworth performs a one-man review of everything that has taken place. One by one, the characters describe their versions of who killed who and how. As an homage to the film’s three different endings, after each of these scenarios, someone says, “But that’s not how it happened,” and the actors go into rewind, faster and faster each time, till all their stories come out.
If you’re looking for a night of theatre that will titillate your sense of suspense while tickling your funny bone, look no further than Clue at the Ahmanson Theatre.
photos by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Clue
national tour
Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave. in Los Angeles
reviewed July 31, 2024; ends on August 25, 2024 in L.A.
for tickets (starting at $35), visit CTG
tour continues well into 2025
for dates and cities, visit Clue
