Review: CLUE: THE MUSICAL at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre
It's all fun and games now through February 7th.
Dutch Apple Dinner Theater is ready for some fun and games with their 301st production, Clue, the Musical. Based on the classic board game, Clue includes all of your favorites, including Mrs. White (Taylor Noll), Miss Scarlett (Laura Elizabeth Flanagan), Mr. Green (Zachary Ryan), Colonel Mustard (Mark Quach), Professor Plum (Randy Kessenich), and Mrs. Peacock (Megan Opalinski).
Each character has their own distinct look, mannerisms and songs to keep us on our toes. Adding to the fun is Sean Fleming as Mr. Boddy. Board game aficionados recognize Mr. Boddy as the murder victim that propels every session of Clue. In the musical. Mr. Boddy serves mainly as the narrator and host of the evening, although he does eventually bite the dust as part of the Act 1 finale.
What makes the evening unique is that audience volunteers randomly select a murderer, weapon, and location at the top of the show and it is up to us to play along. There are over 200 different possible combinations, so that when I reveal at our show Colonel Mustard did it with a knife in the kitchen, it isn’t really a spoiler since your results will probably be completely different!
Lastly, this show adds a character named “The Detective” to the shenanigans in Act 2. Played by Megan Urz, the character is friendly, optimistic, and smart. She serves as a great liaison between the onstage action and the dinner table gumshoes in the crowd.
Sets for the show were relatively modest, with several small backdrops representing the different rooms. I did like that the floor of the stage was made of up the same blocky tan tiles as the squares from the board game.
The score was not particularly memorable, and a few of of the songs were tedious. The two-person onstage accompaniment consisted of a piano player and a percussionist. The output was small, but appropriate.
Clue, the Musical runs through February 7th. It offers some interesting opportunities for an interactive musical theater mystery. Perhaps next year Dutch Apple might consider doing Drood!, which shares a lot of Clue’s theatrical DNA.
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