‘Clue’ brings silliness, spookiness of board game, film to the stage
The story begins, as they often do, on a dark and stormy night.
It’s 1954 near Washington, D.C., where six guests, all referred to only by an alias, arrive at the Boddy Manor.
The guests – Mrs. White (Sarah Mackenzie Baron), Miss Scarlet (Camille Capers), Colonel Mustard (Nate Curlott), Mr. Green (TJ Lamando), Mrs. Peacock (Madeline Raube) and Professor Plum (Kyle Yampiro) – are greeted by Wadsworth (Adam Brett), the butler, and Yvette (Zoie Tannous), the maid.
The guests quickly realize they’re all being blackmailed by the host of the evening, Mr. Boddy (Joseph Dalfonso). But when Mr. Boddy soon winds up dead, it’s up to the six guests to determine who killed him, with what weapon and in what room of the house, even as the body count begins to rise.
The game of Clue has turned players into amateur detectives since its release in 1949. It has also inspired a variety of board game spinoffs and film, television and theater adaptations.
The 1985 film adaptation, in particular, inspired “Clue,” the play bringing its murder and mayhem to the First Interstate Center for the Arts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The cast of “Clue” also includes AT Sanders, Kebron Woodfin, Thomas Netter, Allison Masulis, Taylor Tveten and Layne Roate.
Jonathan Lynn wrote the original screenplay for the film, while Sandy Rustin wrote the book for the play. The play features additional materials from Hunter Foster and Eric Price.
The performer behind the larger-than-life Mrs. Peacock, Raube has been performing practically her entire life. There are home videos of her writing and singing her own songs at 3 years old and, when she was 7 years old, as most children her age were listening to NSYNC, Raube’s favorite CD was one of Broadway legend Bernadette Peters.
When she was around 8 years old, she made her acting debut when she starred as Felicity in “Tea for Felicity,” a play telling the story of the American Girl doll Felicity Merriman, performed at her local library.
In high school, Raube participated in theater festivals and competitions before switching her focus to classical music and opera.
“From ‘Tea for Felicity’ to all of the community theater shows and then to opera, I’ve been immersed in it my whole life, and I love it,” she said.
With her varied experience, Raube said it’s been fun to work on a play, especially one as chaotic as “Clue.” Even though Raube always chose to play as the “mysterious, fun” Miss Scarlet while growing up, she’s loved getting to step into Mrs. Peacock’s “ridiculous, neurotic” shoes.
From the moment Raube enters the stage, she is decked out in frills, lace, peacock feathers and mink. (“Clue” features costume design by Jen Caprio.) The character is older than Raube, so she has given herself a special voice for Mrs. Peacock to help her get into the character of a wealthy wife of a senator.
Out of all the women in the show, Raube has the most physical moments, including spit takes, falling, fainting and spinning around.
“I’ve also been allowing my body to go on that ride every night, being absolutely over the top,” she said. “It’s really fun to hear the audience react to her, and I’m really enjoying it.”
Raube loves Eileen Brennan’s portrayal of Mrs. Peacock in the film “Clue,” and Ruskin included many iconic lines from the film, but Raube made a conscious decision not to rewatch the film.
She wanted to instead read the script as written and find her own version of Mrs. Peacock, albeit one that was still larger-than-life.
Raube also recreates Brennan’s “Oh my, this soup’s delicious, isn’t it?” monologue when the guests are seated at the dinner table together. She said that moment is one of her favorites, and each night on stage, she realizes it’s a favorite moment for the audience as well.
“That’s probably one of those moments where it’s like, ‘This moment that we love so much from the movie is coming to life on stage,’ ” she said. “I can feel the audience recognizing that and loving that. I’ve taken bits and pieces from her and then spun it into my own version, because at the end of the day, I’m not trying to copy or mimic anybody. I’m trying to bring this character to life in my own way.”
A blend of classic slapstick comedy and whodunit, Raube said she and her fellow performers take the silly, spooky show very seriously. The characters, after all, don’t know the show is a comedy. They are fully engrossed in the murders happening around the Boddy Manor, so the actors lean into that while letting the comedy come through Ruskin’s writing.
“It’s a combination of us as actors making sure that we’re really listening to each other every night, remembering the stakes, remembering that it is a murder mystery and then allowing the comedy to come from that,” Raube said.
There is a lot of physical humor, lining up with scenes in the film during which the actors run from room to room and back again. Raube gives credit to set designer Lee Savage and his “Swiss Army knife” of a set.
There are, Raube estimates, 19 hidden doors and panels on the set, and the actors are in a new room every two minutes, so the cast, and audience, are kept on their toes.
“The set itself is a spectacle, and sometimes we’ll hear the audience gasp when a change happens,” Raube said. “The set sort of looks like both the board game and the movie, which is, again, just brilliant. It’s amazing. I mean, the set is truly moving as if you were moving the camera to whatever next room they’re going to.”
After more than 200 shows as Mrs. Peacock, Raube said she is still surprised by how many people love “Clue,” be it the board game, movie or play. During her time with the show, she’s learned that it tops the list of plays performed at high schools around the country.
Audience members don’t need to have any prior knowledge of the game or movie to enjoy the play, however. They merely have to be open to going along for the ride.
“If you’re looking for a night of laughter and you want to take your mind off of whatever is going on in your personal life or anything, come see ‘Clue,’ ” Raube said. “We are here to give you 75 minutes, no intermission, pure laughter, pure discovery, and I think that’s our purpose right now is providing some joy and laughter for audiences around the country.”