Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: six strangers are invited into an imposing, mysterious house for a dinner, wherein secrets are revealed and one or more murders occur, leaving the remaining guests to discover the killer before they, themselves, are next. It’s the kind of set up that Agatha Christie made her living on, and one that both the board game Clue, and the subsequent film by John Landis and Jonathan Lynn, are based. After a successful run on Broadway, Clue Live on Stage! now finds its way to the stage of Bass Concert Hall through January 19th, bringing the beloved 80s classic to life with a farcical, over-the-top style that will delight both original fans and newcomers alike, as long as they’re on board with its very specifically daffy tone.
The stage version of Clue is without a doubt a broad experience, humorwise. While the original film was far from subtle with its dry, but often uproarious humor, the stage version dials everything up to 11 (and possibly 12 at times), with large, over-the-top performances and added emphasis on jokes that were allowed to play a little more gingerly in their originally format. Additional work was added along the way by adaptors Sandy Rustin, with additional work by Hunter Foster and Eric Price, transforming Jonathan Lynn’s original work into something that would work slightly better on the great white way. While this author does bemoan that certain jokes don’t quite capture their original charm in their new variations, there are a few changes, especially in its endings, that end up benefiting the work as a whole.
The most important role in making Clue function is the role of Wadsworth, the bedraggled, mysterious butler who acts as a fulcrum for the work to rotate around. It’s a role that requires a sense a comedic timing and physicality that would be enough for any actor, but he also must maintain an air of both authority and sensitivity that can be a difficult balance. Luckily Jeff Skowron is up to the task. A Broadway mainstay with roles in big hitters such as Enron and High Society, not to mention stints in Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, Skowron flits on to stage with a dancer’s sense of motion and a vaudevillian’s penchant for the pratfall, while still commanding the stage with a booming tenor. He’s a delight throughout, even when he’s simply walking across stage, every movement thoughtfully crafted, each side-eye or exasperated look (and there are many of those) impeccably thought through.
Also surprisingly impressive is John Shartzer’s Mr. Green. As he’s the sole homosexual character in the cast, they do play up some of his more effete qualities, but on the whole it’s handled with surprising sensitivity, with his more tightly-wound qualities being on fuller display. His combination of taut anxiety and hilariously ludicrous reactions make for some of the play’s highlights, including a moment of physical acting that could only be pulled off by someone at the height of their contortionist game. That the play maintains the somewhat off-putting joke that caps the original movie is a slight disappointment, but one supposes that a closing line that iconic probably needed to be maintained.
Clue plays all of its actions to their very back rows, with exaggerated performances that take the essence of their game and film counterparts, and ratchets the camp knob up until its liable to break. It may be a bit much for those seeking out more subtle, dry humor, like that of the film on which this play is based, but the play often benefits greatly from the added frivolity. For one thing, it creates a much sillier universe in which for the action to take place, making for some truly hilarious moments (I’m reminded of one moment of extreme physical comedy involving a chandelier and the immense physical capability of Shartzer’s Mr. Green). It won’t be a play for everyone, to be sure, but for those that don’t a mind a quick slice of over-the-top humor, you could do far, far worse.
Clue is playing at the Bass Concert Hall through January 19th, 2025. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit Broadway in Austin. Photos courtesy of Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.
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