Emily Berman

Syracuse Stage closes its 2022-23 season with the madcap farce, Clue. Based on the iconic 1950’s board game of the same name, Clue spoofs whodunit mysteries, film noir, 1950’s pop culture and gothic horror films. The play is adapted for stage from the 1985 film that was a critical flop but has since become a cult classic. Set during McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, a time fraught with suspicion and accusation, the mansion owned by Mr. Boddy becomes the gathering point for six invited guests. These guests we find out are all guarded about their pasts, are all being blackmailed and are referred to by aliases that correspond to the famous characters in the board game. Each guest is then gifted one of the six murder weapons. In all, there are six potential murderers, six weapons and nine rooms in the mansion, 324 possibilities for who, what and where; as Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes agree, now “the game is afoot.” The gothic mansion, the dark and stormy night, the suspenseful reality of the play merge with Parker Brothers’ (now Hasbro’s) rule book and the characters become mashups of villains and game pieces. They punctuate the endings of scenes with comic confusion, mad scrambling and a kind of frantic skipping, like game pieces moving on a board after a dice roll. Scenic designer, Czerton Lim, creates the perfect 3-D version of the original board game. Upon entering the theatre, the audience sees a classic gothic foyer, complete with crystal chandelier, mahogany woodwork, marble stairs and a tiled floor fashioned to replicate the spaces on a game board. As the play progresses, the set becomes a character in itself as it transforms into the rooms of the mansion required by both the game and the play. His design is beautiful and functional. It not only provides a setting but also helps establish the humor and tempo of the play. It always surprises and delights. Likewise, original music by Michael Holland and sound design by Todd Mack create a comically suspenseful mood and punctuate the zany exploits on stage. Along with lighting design by Jared Gooding, the cliché of a dark and stormy night permeates the atmosphere and heightens the tension and anxiety of this mock thriller. The production is at its best when the actors are highly choreographed and in tune with the music, sound and light cues. In fact, the funniest moment in the play is prompted by a single gunshot. Director Benjamin Hanna establishes a fast pace from the very beginning of the play. It is so fast and furious that neither the audience nor the actors are allowed to get their bearings. The characters in Clue are obvious stereotypes but the portrayals all share the same frenetic quality without ever establishing basic, underlying traits and motivations. Characterization, for the most part, has been sacrificed to blatant silliness and camp. (There is nothing in the script that requires the beginning to move at such a pace.) Once the first murder occurs and the stakes are raised the speed can and should pickup through the end. For example, Plum is a stereotypical Professor, haughty and cerebral but cursed with an inflated libido. Beethovan Oden has a nice general feel for the character and indicates his personality traits, but he isn’t able to develop those qualities from the onset of the play. If he had, then as the pace became more frantic the audience could have enjoyed watching him first struggle then ultimately fail to keep his composure. Clearly many of the actors are talented. John Taylor Phillips as Wadsworth has a natural presence on stage as well as crisp comic timing but never fully embodies the stereotypical reserved, unflappable and ultimately arrogant butler. Emily Berman as Miss Scarlet is also clean and precise. Miss Scarlet is a stereotypical Madame but the actress is not allowed to explore the cynism and sexuality of the character who should have a slower, more voluptuous pace than some of the others. Henry Woronicz’s Colonel Mustard vacillates appropriately between being doddering and demanding. He sketches out an interesting frame for his character but again seems to fall prey to the tempo of this runaway train. Claire Wilcher makes a strong acting choice to play Mrs. Peacock with the nervous energy of a bird. Her comedy is broad and eccentric while still grounded in reality. Even when she is in the background of the action, she is always in the moment. When given focus, she commands the stage and rate of action. As a result, her portrayal is very funny and very satisfying to watch. Her least successful moments occur when directed to do something out of character simply for a laugh. Less successfully, Eric Sharp’s Mr. Green and Emjoy Gavino’s Mrs. White just seem lost in the silliness and frenetic mayhem. As lovers of farce and broad comedy, we were disappointed that more care wasn’t taken to create an underlying believability before descending into comic chaos. A stock character when presented by an actor still needs to have specificity. Silliness can be funny, comic bits enjoyable and a fast pace exciting, but they need to be balanced and well executed. By the end of the production, it felt like all 324 murder possibilities were explored, but few realities remained. If you are looking for an evening of fast-paced silliness, screwball comedy and sight gags this production satisfies. As a farce poking fun at human frailty and foibles, Benjamin Hanna’s Clue misses the mark. Clue runs through Sunday, June 25th. Tickets can be purchased by visiting SyracuseStage.org or by calling (315) 443-3275 or by visiting the box office at 820 East Genesee Street. did our critic think of CLUE at Syracuse Stage?

Syracuse Stage closes its 2022/2023 season with a production that celebrates the pure joy and simple fun of live theatre, the fan favorite and ultimate whodunnit, CLUE. The production runs June 7 to 25 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Florida Studio Theatre will produce the Tony and Olivier Award-winning comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong, by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer. This fast-paced comedy follows the opening night of an amateur theatre troupe's production of a 1920s whodunit, “The Murder at Haversham Manor.”

Riverside Theatre, led by Producing Artistic Director/CEO Allen D. Cornell and Managing Director/COO Jon R. Moses along with Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers Group, presents Neil Simon's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning comic drama, Lost in Yonkers. Sponsored by Bobbie Olsen and presented by Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers Group, Lost in Yonkers performs on the Stark Stage February 4-23, 2020. 

Eleven world premiere plays and musicals seen first by Chicago audiences were among those receiving nominations by the Jeff Awards, announced today. A total of 192 nominations were made in 34 categories that honor Chicago Equity theatrical productions that opened between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. During the 2018-19 season, Jeff Awards judges attended opening nights of 132 Equity productions offered by 43 producing organizations and from these openings, 112 productions were a?oeJeff Recommendeda?? and eligible for award nominations.

TimeLine Theatre Company announced today a second and final extension of its critically acclaimed hit A Shayna Maidel, Barbara Lebow's moving family drama about two sisters reunited after years of separation caused by the rise of the Nazis.

Due to popular demand, TimeLine Theatre Company announces a four-week extension of its current revival of A Shayna Maidel, Barbara Lebow's moving family drama about two sisters reunited after years of separation caused by the rise of the Nazis.

TimeLine Theatre Company's season premiere production of A SHAYNA MAIDEL is a beautiful, haunting, and necessary theater experience. Barbara Lebow's play reunites sisters Rose (Bri Sudia) and Lusia (Emily Berman) in 1946 New York City.  Though the play was written in 1984 and takes place in the middle of the last century, A SHAYNA MAIDEL's emotional story of survival cuts deep. As a young girl, Rose was fortunate to escape from Poland to America with her father Mordechai (Charles Stransky) before the beginning of the Holocaust. Due to a an untimely and devastating bout of Scarlet Fever, however, Lusia was forced to remain in Poland with the girls' Mama (Carin Schapiro Silakitis) and did not escape the horrors of the concentration camps. Reunited for the first time in many years, both Rose and Lusia must contend with their own guilty feelings and to rebuild a relationship nearly from scratch.

TimeLine Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for the launch of its 22nd season-a revival of A Shayna Maidel, Barbara Lebow's moving family drama about two sisters reunited after years of separation caused by the rise of the Nazis.

TimeLine Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for the launch of its 22nd season-a revival of A Shayna Maidel, Barbara Lebow's moving family drama about two sisters reunited after years of separation caused by the rise of the Nazis.

TimeLine Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for the launch of its 22nd season-a revival of A Shayna Maidel, Barbara Lebow's moving family drama about two sisters reunited after years of separation caused by the rise of the Nazis.

Chicago theatre talent comes together for Unidos: Puerto Rico Benefit Concert. This one-night-only charity event will be held at 8:00pm on Monday October 30, 2017 at Uptown Underground, 4707 N Broadway St in Chicago. All proceeds will help aid hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico through the Hispanic Federation.

From the picturesque covered bridges of 1965 Winterset, Iowa, comes the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, continuing Marriott Theatre's spectacular 2017 Season, running now through August 13, 2017 with a press opening tomorrow, June 28, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. BroadwayWorld has highlights from the show below!

From the picturesque covered bridges of 1965 Winterset, Iowa, comes the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, continuing Marriott Theatre's spectacular 2017 Season, running through August 13, 2017.

From the picturesque covered bridges of 1965 Winterset, Iowa, comes the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, continuing Marriott Theatre's spectacular 2017 Season, running now through August 13, 2017 with a press opening tomorrow, June 28, at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. BroadwayWorld has highlights from the show below!

From the picturesque covered bridges of 1965 Winterset, Iowa, comes the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, continuing Marriott Theatre's spectacular 2017 Season, running June 21 through August 13, 2017 with a press opening on Wednesday, June 28 at 8 p.m. at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire.

From the picturesque covered bridges of 1965 Winterset, Iowa, comes the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, continuing Marriott Theatre's spectacular 2017 Season, running June 21 through August 13, 2017 with a press opening on Wednesday, June 28 at 8 p.m. at 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire.

Laugh Out Loud Theater - Chicago, is proud to present 'Buzzed Broadway,' an improvised musical that encourages audiences to drink alongside soon-­to-­be Broadway stars.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents the World Premiere of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon and directed by Jessica Thebus, has been extended for an additional six performances and will now run through December 24, 2016.

Northlight Theatre's Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley celebrates its world premiere opening tonight at 8pm and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!