The Observer, October 21, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8
TheatreScene: Footlighter's Clue
Six suspects, six weapons, six rooms, one dead Boddy. It has probably been a while since any college students have played the classic board game Clue, but if you reminisce for a moment, you'll realize that the details of the murder – such as motive and opportunity – were completely left out of the game. Clue: The Musical sets out to establish the back story to Mr. Boddy's murder. Unlike Hollywood's take on the story, the characters in the musical are painfully aware that they are in a board game. Game-related jokes and terminology make their way into the show regularly.
As the show opens, a still-living Mr. Boddy (Dustin Jesberger) asks three audience members to choose cards that determine the culprit, the weapon, and the scene of the crime. As the play progresses, clues come out about the murder, leading to one of 216 possible endings. Act One introduces the characters, along with their back stories and motives; Boddy dies at the end of Act One; and after intermission, the investigation begins. The background for each of the characters is as follows:
Mrs. Peacock (Bria DuPont) is currently married to Mr. Boddy, but her long trail of dead ex-husbands won't win her any points with a jury.
The maid, "Mrs." White (played by Garrett Coombs) is over-worked, under-paid, and really, really hairy. She doesn't hide her hatred for her employer and she does have access to a lot of knives.
Professor Plum (John Fentiman) is a pretentious stickler for grammar who suffered a financial loss as a result of one of Boddy's business endeavors.
Mr. Green (Chad Fusco) was probably involved in the business deal that led to Plum's demise. Armed with sketchy schemes and confused clichés, he is reminiscent of a used car dealer.
Colonel Mustard's (Demetrius Colvin) war record is shadowed by his rare medical condition that makes him mistake people for inanimate objects when he gets flustered.
The final suspect – Miss Scarlet (Jenny Nelson) – has an elusive past as an "entertainer." We'll just leave it at that.
In the second act, we meet a detective (Janette Siu) who is, to put it mildly, useless. She tries to act tough, but she almost cries whenever the characters look at her.
Clue: The Musical opens Oct. 27 in the Excelsior Ballroom of Thwing Center, presented by student musical theater group Footlighters. At press time, the dress rehearsals were coming along well. Clue promises an excellent night of music, mystery, and hilarity.
