Review: CLUE LIVE ON STAGE! at Providence Performing Arts Center

 Providence Performing Arts Center presents the comedy whodunit, Clue Live on Stage! based on the beloved board game which inspired the 1985 movie, Clue, starring Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn. Despite performing poorly at the box office, the film has since achieved cult classic status with a fiercely loyal fan base, so it’s perfectly understandable that a stage adaptation would come to fruition.

 In this delightfully daft version written by Sandy Rustin and screenwriter Jonathan Lynn, six soon-to-be suspects have been invited to Boddy Manor by an anonymous host for a dinner party, a la Agatha Christie, where they are welcomed by Wadsworth (Adam Brett), the butler, attended on by Yvette (Zoie Tannous), the maid, and fed by The Cook (AT Sanders). The all-too-familiar names of those six guests are Colonel Mustard (Nate Curlott), Mrs. White (Sarah Mackenzie Baron), Mr. Green (TJ Lamando), Mrs. Peacock (Madeline Raube), Professor Plum (Kyle Yampiro), and Miss Scarlet (Camille Capers).

When the mysterious Mr. Boddy (Joseph Dalfonso) appears and reveals why he has gathered this motley crew at his abode, they all realize what they have in common–and it’s nothing to be proud of. Murder and mayhem ensue as each tries to hide their respective misdemeanors, and while the body count rises, so do the highjinks, as well as the laughs.

Casey Hushion meticulously directs the cast, all of whom move with precision and great physical comedy prowess throughout the many rooms of Boddy’s mansion, beautifully and intricately crafted by Lee Savage. The script is equally silly and clever, rife with rapidfire dialogue and corny one-liners, which the cast delivers with impressive comic timing and cheeky inflection.

The entire ensemble proves they are up to task, each contributing their own unique brand of humor. Curlott triumphs as the doltish Colonel Mustard, Mackenzie Baron is admirably stoic as Mrs. White, Lamando’s Mr. Green is adorably awkward, Raube glistens as the dainty Mrs. Peacock, Yampiro is incorrigibly impetuous as the scholarly Professor Plum, and Capers personifies sass and style as Miss Scarlet. Brett steals every scene and arguably the entire show as the dashing, wondrously witty, self-professed indentured servant, Wadsworth, whose performance alone is worth the price of admission.

Having never seen the film, I truly enjoyed the escapist foolishness of this production, and based on what I heard from other patrons, it pays commendable homage to the film. For both ardent fans and newcomers alike, ‘Clue Live on Stage!’ is an enjoyable, highly entertaining, comedic romp.

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