‘Clue’: The Cult Classic Finally Gets a Killer Stage Adaptation
In December of 1985, Paramount Pictures released Clue, the big-screen adaptation of the iconic Parker Brothers (now Hasbro) murder-mystery board game that turned every child, parent, and childless adult into an armchair detective. The movie arrived with a novel gimmick: each theater played a different ending, revealing a different killer, hoping to drive box office sales. However, it backfired, and the fast-talking farce, written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, was deemed a flop. “Yet today,” as Buzzfeed’s Adam B. Vary once wrote, “Clue is a true cult sensation, a prime example of how a discarded scrap of Hollywood commerce can, through the transubstantiation of time and word-of-mouth, become one of the most beloved films of the 1980s.”
Over the years since, many have tried to replicate or pay homage to the movie’s irresistible zaniness and charm. Countless productions have popped up in small theaters across North America — some in musical form. Several independent theaters have hosted midnight screenings, complete with shadow casts reenacting the entire film (enjoyable Rocky Horror-esque stunts that have been shut down by the aforementioned movie studio). Even USA’s Psych celebrated its 100th episode with a tribute featuring several actors from the movie. And earlier this year, Jonathan Wysocki’s coming-of-age dramedy, Dramarama, included an adorable shoutout to the whodunnit.
Now, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment are kicking off their 2021–22 season with a faithful, one-act stage adaptation written by Sandy Rustin and directed by Casey Hushion. The tighly run production clocks in at a trim 90 minutes, and die-hard fans of the movie will appreciate seeing one of their favorite comedies be brought to vivid life.
Instead of a raised curtain, the top of the show begins with a large-scale portrait of Boddy Mansion — much like the rendering seen in the opening of the 1985 film — accompanied by John Morris’s “Main Title,” used here as an overture. Soon we’re introduced to those familiar characters: Wadsworth the butler (Jeff Skowron), Yvette the maid (Cassie Simone), Miss Scarlet (Sarah Hollis), Mrs. Peacock (Mary Birdsong), Colonel Mustard (Harrison White), Professor Plum (Ted Barton), and Mr. Green (John Shartzer). The colorfully named guests have all arrived at the request of their mysterious host, Mr. Boddy (Michael Cavinder), who sets the scene for murder and blackmail shortly after the main course is served in the dining room.
The impressive, two-story set, designed by Lee Savage, is delightfully gothic without being completely dreary or distracting. It’s also surprisingly versatile; characters enter and exit the mansion’s signature rooms via rotating, movable sets. Everyone is given enough room to play in, especially when the cast goes on their hunt for a murderer during a cleverly choreographed sequence that has too much fun with the lighting and sound design.
Rustin’s script (with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price) lifts a sizable portion from Lynn’s screenplay, most notably Mrs. White’s iconic “flames on the side of my face” confession, originally delivered (and ironically improvised) by the inimitable Madeline Kahn. (I mean, how could you not include it?) However, those who know the movie by heart won’t be able to resist comparing its rapid-fire dialogue to the lines delivered live on stage without the magic of editing (and that veteran 80s cast).
This 2021 cast, though, has their game faces on, particularly Skowron, who gives Wadsworth a weaselly edge and takes on the Herculean task of delivering the climactic and physically challenging monologue that Tim Curry effortlessly executed 36 years ago. But he’s not the only one that stands out. In the play’s manic denouement, he eventually passes the torch to Shartzer, whose Mr. Green is a suited-up nerd in disguise…in disguise. The actor, who will appear in Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story next year, turns out to be the show’s scene stealer in the best possible way, resorting to pratfalls and other means of physical comedy, his lanky frame appearing to be made of rubber as his “accident prone” character gets into one awkward antic after another. He is an absolute delight.
And then there are the multiple endings. Hushion has a field day with her actors, employing a hilarious “rewinding” technique that allows each actor to steal the spotlight and play the culprit in each scenario. It all happens a little too quickly, but watching characters go mad while isolated in a locked-down house proved to be an effervescent return to the theater during these semi-post-pandemic times. I missed this experience so much.
In the end, it was me. In the theater. With a face mask.
CLUE runs through Sunday, October 17, 2021 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 8 pm and Sundays at 1:30 pm & 6:30 pm. Tickets range from $17 — $79 (prices subject to change) and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre’s website, by visiting the La Mirada Theatre Box Office, or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944–9801 or (714) 994–6310. Group discounts are available. $15 Student Tickets are available. Children under 3 will not be admitted into the theatre.
