By Michael Buzzelli
When a group of strangers, given color-coded codenames, meet in a grand country house, Boddy Manor (based on the Tudor Close Hotel in the UK) in 1954, shark fin soup and foul play are on the menu.
Wadsworth (Adam Brett), the butler, greets each participant at the door and ushers them into the study for a cocktail. Each player is known only by their kaleidoscopic nom de guerre and is told not to share any details about their lives, but details emerge over dinner.
Mrs. White (Sarah Mackenzie Baron), Miss Scarlet (Camille Capers), Colonel Mustard (Nate Curlott), Mr. Green (TJ Lamando), Professor Plum (Kyle Yampiro), and Mrs. Peacock (Madeline Raube, decked out in full plumage) meet the unscrupulous Mr. Boddy (Joseph Dalfonso, in multiple roles). Boddy has been blackmailing each one of them. When the lights go out. Mr. Boddy is on the floor, killed by one member of the colorful contingent of ne’er-do-wells.
Wadsworth and the guests must solve the murder, but each clue leads to an additional murder. Soon, the Cook (AT Sanders), the maid, Yvette (Zoie Tannous), and a cop (Kebron Woodfin) end up murdered by various weapons, a gun, a rope, a candlestick, a lead pipe, etc.
If the murder weapons and the murderers sound familiar, you might have played the board game, “Clue,” or you may recall the eponymous 1985 movie, starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull, and more.
The plot follows Jonathan Lynn’s screenplay, which was adapted from Sandy Rustin’s original material, with additional material from Hunter Foster and Eric Price. It takes a village.
There’s not much more to it. If you’ve seen the movie, you will know the play. It is very faithful to its source material.
There’s often a gripe in theater, when a stage adaptation strays far from the film it’s based on (take “Beetlejuice,” for example), but without any revisions, it’s just a rehash. There are some clever new bits, but nostalgia can only take you so far.
Also, It isn’t fair to compare Sarah Mackenzie Baron to Madeline Kahn or Adam Brett to Tim Curry, but they knew the Risk, and they might be Sorry, but that’s Life. Surely the original actors shouldn’t have a Monopoly on the roles. I suspected that they were in Trouble, but, based on the riotous response from the audience, who were laughing with gusto, creating this version wasn’t just a Trivial Pursuit.
Judging them on their own merits, Brett does a great job as Wadsworth, and Mackenzie Baron does a terrific job as Mrs. White (“The flames…the flames…on the side of my face”).
Curlott’s Colonel Mustard gets some decent laughs playing a dolt.
Lamando is superb as “Mr. Green.”
While Mr. Boddy is a minor role, Dalfonso makes up for it with panache. He also shines as a cop who plays the improv game “New Choice” with his name every time he enters a room.
Casey Hushion keeps things light and airy, like a mousse.
The bulk of the hard work of this production goes to Lee Savage’s scenic design and the stage crew that has to move all of the pieces around swiftly. It’s dizzying how quickly the set moves (and it’s such beautiful scenery).
There is something thrilling about seeing a beloved movie play out in live action yards away from your chair.
-MB
“Clue” runs until Jan. 4 at the Benedum Center, Seventh and Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.
