The company of the North American tour of Clue. Photo: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

Clue

Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn
Written by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price
Original music by Michael Holland
Directed by Casey Hushion

A review by Brian Kennedy

Entire contents are copyright © 2024 by Brian Kennedy. All rights reserved.

The hilarity piles up as much as the bodies in Clue, now solving murders at Whitney Hall inside the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

Clue, based on the Parker Brothers board game and the 1985 cult classic movie, features strangers invited to the secluded Boddy Manor for dinner and a game in 1954 New England.

As depicted on the impressive backdrop, Boddy Manor is a dead ringer for The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World; it’s dark and spooky, has many floors, and is topped off with dark clouds. The rooms, meanwhile, are what one would expect in a mansion. The kitchen has a refrigerator and sink, the lounge has plenty of seating, and so on, and are easily moved on and off stage as needed. This leaves plenty of room for action to take place center stage.

The butler, Wadsworth (Mark Price) lets the guests into the manor, and the guests must go by false names. This includes the dimwitted Col. Mustard (John Tracy Egan), the widower Mrs. White (Tari Kelly), the overly-dramatic Mrs. Peacock (Joanna Glushak), the germaphobe Mr. Green (John Shartzer), Professor Plum (Jonathan Spivey), and the escort Miss Scarlet (Michelle Elaine). 

Soon, the guests learn they were invited for reasons much more sinister than originally believed. Each guest also has a peculiar background they’d like to keep quiet. After each guest receives their weapons, including a gun, rope, candlestick, and others, bodies start piling up. So do the clues and the accusations.

Clue is fast-paced, clocking in at 80 minutes with no intermission (though advertised as 90 minutes). The clues come early and often, making a unique challenge, perhaps too much of a challenge, for those trying to figure out who did what to whom and where. 

Even if unable to decipher the clues, the audience could still be thoroughly entertained as the ensemble joyfully moved through the many one-liners, insults, and physical comedy. Each cast member had individual moments that earned some kind of reaction, but two stood out for the near-capacity audience. Egan, as Mustard, owned his role, leaning hard into the dimwitted attitude and earning every belly laugh. Meanwhile, Shartzer, as Green, brought literal flexibility to his role. Just the way he was able to bend his body in various situations led to laughs, gasps, and well-earned applause.

With all the hilarity mentioned above, energetic pace, and constant clues in mind, Clue is a show that should not be missed!

Clue

March 5 – 10, 2024

PNC Broadway in Louisville
Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts
501 W Main Steet
Louisville, KY 40206
louisville.broadway.com

Brian Kennedy is a nearly life-long Louisville resident who has performed in plays since 2004. He also wrote extensively about the Louisville theatre scene for Louisville.com and Examiner.com from 2009-2015. Currently, he maintains the theatre blog LouBriantheater. When not involved in the theatre scene, he is an avid runner, participating in 5Ks throughout the state and in southern Indiana.