REVIEW: CLUE—Segerstrom Center for the Arts
- TheShowReport
- Jul 24, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 27, 2024
Mrs. Peacock: Everything all right? Colonel Mustard: Yep. Two corpses. Everything's fine.
JULY 23, 2024—COSTA MESA
It’s a dark and stormy night, and murder and blackmail are on the menu. One by one, six whimsically offbeat guests arrive at Boddy Manor for a dinner party, when suddenly, they find themselves implicated as murder suspects — it seems their host has turned up dead. And all around them…bodies are starting to pile up.
Following in the footsteps of the 1985 cult classic Paramount film, and inspired by the popular Hasbro board game, CLUE is the ultimate whodunit steeped in goofy hijinks, featuring an all-star cast delivering rib-tickling mile-a-minute quips, that brings a madcap ensemble of characters to life on stage with a blend of comedy and suspense.
The stage show, written by SANDY RUSTIN (“American Girl Live” tour), has been adapted from the original screenwriter Jonathan Lynn with additional material by HUNTER FOSTER (Tony nominee for a 2003 Broadway revival of “Little Shop of Horrors”) and ERIC PRICE. Producers Work Light Productions (RENT, MAMMA MIA!, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL) and The Araca Group (URINETOWN, WICKED) in association with Aged in Wood and Michael Barra, describes the show as a unique phenomenon that transcends the genre of most plays, appealing to cult followers of both the movie and the play.
Directed by CASEY HUSHION, the 2024 national tour of CLUE is based on the Paper Mill staging. Curiously, this adaptation is one which has never actually played on Broadway. Instead, CLUE was field-tested at a handful of regional playhouses over the past few years. Wildly popular, the Equity tour hit the road early this year at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota and will continue through May of 2025. Currently it is performing at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through July 28th.
The play features the same iconic characters from the CLUE franchise we’re all familiar with: the sensual Miss Scarlett (MICHELLE ELAINE), a vivaciously sardonic D.C. madam with a coquettish smile, who is more interested in secrets than anything else; Colonel Mustard (JOHN TREACY EGAN, a total hoot to watch onstage), a puffy, pompous, dense blowhard of a military man who reminds you of an outdated operating system. Clunky and slow to connect. He took some things quite literal and other things he completely missed. All while maintaining an air of pseudo superiority; the pale, morbid and tragic Mrs. White (TARI KELLY), who may or may not have murdered her five ex-husbands.
We also have a very nimble Mr. Green (JOHN SHARTZER, the heart of the campiness of this show), who is a gay Republican, desperately hiding the fact that he didn’t vote for Eisenhower in the last election; Mrs. Peacock (JOANNA GLUSHAK), the easily ruffled churchgoing wife of a state senator who has a drinking problem and dresses like an American Girl doll; and Professor Plum (JONATHAN SPIVEY), who is an overripe, pipe-touting egotist. Each character has their own distinct personality traits, quirks, and potential motives for the murder and features an absurd style of humor that keeps the audience laughing nonstop.
As each guest arrives, they’re greeted by an all-too-eager-to-please butler named Wadsworth (MARK PRICE). None of the visitors has a clue as to why they’ve been invited. But all six, it is revealed, has interconnecting relationships past and present with each other, and all are being blackmailed by the unseen host, Mr. Boddy (ALEX SYIEK), a charismatic James Bond wanna-be who's looking for a payback. Each is given an alias — Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Professor Plum and Miss Scarlet. Each is given a potential murder weapon — a candlestick, rope, gun, wrench, lead pipe and butcher knife — and each becomes a suspect when their host is found dead.
Of course, none of the half dozen have the detective skills of a Hercule Poirot or a Dick Tracy. Instead, all six exhibit traits resembling Christie’s classic MURDER ON THE LINKS times The Three Stooges, each with their own individual quirks.
They soon discover that their common ties to Washington, along with offenses ranging from slightly murky to master criminal, have landed them on the wrong end of a shakedown scheme. After their host Mr. Boddy arrives, he adds McCarthyism blacklisting to their worries. The lights turn off, things go bump in the night, and Mr. Boddy winds up dead, with the dwindling survivors scrambling to make sense of it all.
Adding to the confusion, and sometimes the body count, is Yvette (ELISABETH YANCEY), a provocative French maid with her own secret aspirations, a cleaver-wielding cook (MARIAH BURKS), a stranded motorist who happens to ring the wrong doorbell, and a suspicious policeman, who was just doing his job. There’s also a clumsy detective who drives much of the action in the second half.
Mr. Price’s Wadsworth is fantastic in a surprising, sublime performance, with voices, impersonations and over-the-top dramatic scenes, following in the shoes of the great Tim Curry from the film version, with loads of dry wit mixed in with double meanings and word play. Hard to describe fully — you’ll have to go see the many layers of Wadsworth for yourself.
And Mr. Shartzer takes the physical comedy up a notch as Mr. Green, with Price and Shartzer squaring off towards the end in a series of inventive comedic touches that is priceless. There are frightening blackouts, high-pitched screams, falling chandeliers, secret passageways, even sensual embraces with corpses. Meanwhile, in a welcome throwback to an era of slapstick comedy, the finely tuned cast scurrys about trying to convince a stray cop that the propped-up corpses are merely having a good time.
So, in order not to belabor the point, let me just say: the cast was impeccable in their very difficult roles. Ms. Kelly faithfully plays a persnickety Mrs. White, Ms. Glushak is a squawking, histrionic Mrs. Peacock, adorned in feathers and self-righteousness. Mr. Shartzer is outstanding as the so-nervous-he’s-suspicious Mr. Green, while Mr. Spivey perfectly embodies the holier-than-thou airs of the snooty Professor Plum. Ms. Elaine is letter-perfect as the seductive Miss Scarlet, and Mr. Egan could not have been better as good old Mustard.
By the way, the setting for Boddy Mansion was worthy of commendation to scenic designer, Lee Savage, who is truly a visionary. From the moody lighting by Ryan O’Gara to the amazing sound work by Jeff Human, the stage truly transports you directly into this old, gloomy mansion. Were it not for such a strong cast, the set would easily be the real star of the show.
SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS, and The Araca Group, Work Light Productions, Lively McCabe Entertainment and Aged in Wood Present CLUE, A New Comedy; Based on the screenplay by JONATHAN LYNN; Written by SANDY RUSTIN; Additional Material by HUNTER FOSTER and ERIC PRICE; Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture; Based on the Hasbro Board Game CLUE. Directed by CASEY HUSHION; Scenic Design LEE SAVAGE; Costume Design JEN CAPRIO; Lighting Design RYAN O’GARA; Sound Design JEFF HUMAN; Hair, Wig & Makeup Design J. JARED JANAS; Composer and Music Supervision MICHAEL HOLLAND; Fight Direction ROBERT WESTLEY; Production Stage Manager MARGOT WHITNEY.
WITH: The Cook & Others: MARIAH BURKS; Colonel Mustard: JOHN TREACY EGAN; Miss Scarlet: MICHELLE ELAINE; Mrs. Peacock: JOANNA GLUSHAK; Mrs. White: TARI KELLY; Wadsworth: MARK PRICE; Mr. Green: JOHN SHARTZER; Professor Plum/U/S for Wadsworth: JONATHAN SPIVEY; Mr. Boddy & Others: ALEX SYIEK; The Cop & Others/U/S for Col. Mustard: TEDDY TRICE; Yvette/U/S for Miss Scarlet: ELISABETH YANCEY; U/S for Col. Mustard/Mr. Green/Prof. Plum/Mr. Boddy/The Cop/Others: GREG BALLA; U/S for Yvette/The Cook/Mrs. White/Mrs. Peacock/Others: ALISON EWING; U/S for Yvette/The Cook/Mrs. White/Mrs. Peacock/Others: MARY MCNULTY; U/S for Wadsworth/Mr. Green/ Prof. Plum/Mr. Boddy/The Cop/Others: JAMES TAYLOR ODOM.
CLUE will play from July 23–28, 2024; Performances: Tuesday–Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2 & 7:30 pm, Sunday at 1 & 6:30 pm at Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 556-2121, with an Accessibility Performance on Saturday, July at 2pm. Tickets start at $55.37 and can be purchased at https://www.scfta.org
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
Photo Credits: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
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