Clue is easily one of the most popular and well-known board game produced by Hasbro. So, it is no surprise that it has been adapted into a movie, stage play and even a musical.
Central Connecticut State University’s Theatre Department put on a performance of “Clue: The Musical” in Maloney Hall’s Black Box Theatre from May 1-5. As someone who has participated in a production of the play version of “Clue,” I was curious and excited to see the performance.
The show was interesting in that it was very interactive. Audience members were given clue card sheets for them to select the who, what and where of Mr. Boddy’s murder. Murder victim Mr. Boddy explained to the audience that they will be participating in the show to shape how the show plays out. Volunteers were selected from the audience to pick the who, what and where cards that would determine the outcome. These cards were placed in an envelope by Mr. Boddy to be opened at the end of the show.
I found this to be a very engaging way for the character to interact with the audience. Typically in theater, you will have characters interact with the audience in only a few ways including soliloquies, a Greek chorus or straight up fourth-wall breaks. By having the audience serve as a sort of director for the show, each performance is unique and each audience gets a different show each night.
After the selections, Mr. Boddy interacts with each of the soon to be suspected culprits, revealing that they all hate him and have a motive to want to kill him. The characters all commiserate over their shared idea to kill Mr. Boddy and the chase him through the manor. After a long and comedic sequence of the characters trying to find Mr. Boddy and him fleeing, his is eventually cornered and dies.
A detective shows up to solve the murder, intimidating the cast with her smarts and ability to scrounge up all of their secrets and motives for wanting Mr. Boddy dead. Everyone was intimidated by her and decide to work together to save their skins. But it doesn’t do they much good as the detective progresses with her case and taking down the murderer.
Over the course of the show, both before and after his death, Mr. Boddy gave clues to the audience for them to try and solve the murder. It was very exciting to examine and think about the clues. It was difficult at times, as the performances and music would sweep you up and distract you from your detective work, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
At the end of the show, the detective reached her conclusion and opened the envelope to reveal the true culprit, where they killed Mr. Boddy and their weapon of choice. The killer then confessed and gets arrested. The audience was invited to share if they had also solved the mystery and received applause from everyone.
The show was very entertaining over its entire run time. The interactive elements were creative and made the show all the more fun to watch. The comedy, both physical and dialogue was fantastic and had me giggling at every moment. The cast was stellar in every moment they were onstage, especially when it came to the music numbers. Tati Delgado as Mrs. Peacock was my favorite performer in terms of singing, but everyone did fantastic throughout the show.
The band did exceptionally well. The music was jazzy, catchy and a blast to listen to. I was impressed by what the band was able to do with only three people playing instruments. The band was situated in a balcony elevated above the stage so that they were clearly present throughout the entire show. It reminded me of the set up for “Hadestown” but better.
“Clue: The Musical” provides a great show and wild, yet entertaining way to play the classic board game. It truly shows the talent of CCSU’s Theatre Department with such a well-done show.
