Dallas Theater Center presents CLUE
Clue
Based on the Screenplay by Jonathan Lynn
Written by Sandy Rustin
Additional Material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price
Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture
Based on the Hasbro board game CLUE
Original Music by David Michael Holland
Directed by Alan Muraoka
Scenic Design by Jo Winiarski
Costume Design, Hair, Wig, and Make-Up Design by Jen Caprio
Lighting Design by Christina Watanabe
Sound Design by Sharath Patel
With Savannah Elayyach, Alli Franken, Olivia de Guzman, Blake Hackler, Blake Henri, Braxton O. Johnson, Gena Loe, Christina Austin Lopez, David Lugo, Brian Mathis, Alex Organ, Mark Quach, Tiffany Solano, Sally Nystuen Vahle, and Greg White
My thoughts on Clue or…mayhem, madness, and murder in the manse or…the game’s afoot.
Clue
Directed by Alan Muraoka
I have to confess to being a complete CLUE virgin. I’ve never seen the movie or played the game. So, when I arrived on opening night at Dallas Theater Center, I really did not know what to expect. I knew it would be a comic murder mystery, but what I didn’t know is that it would be a laugh riot and one of the most perfectly directed, acted, and designed plays I’ve seen.
It’s 1954 and the McCarthy hearings are underway. A group of six guests, all with secrets, have been invited to dinner by an unknown host to the secluded Boddy Mansion, but no, Boddy isn’t there. Instead, they are “welcomed” by the staff including Wadsworth the butler, Yvette the French maid, and a cook with a pronounced neck problem.
Among the guests are Colonel Mustard, a pompous, upright, but as we find out, not so uptight, military windbag used to being in control played with perfect posturing by Greg White.
Mrs. Peacock, the wife of a senator, arrives looking like she may have just left a 1950’s church service, crinolines and all. She is neurotic, full of faux piety, and loves attention and a little booze now and then. An almost unrecognizable Tiffany Solano brings her comic all to the part.
Professor Plum, a womanizing psychologist, arrives. He is a glib academic who now works for a D.C. bureau. He’s convinced of his own charm and David Lugo gives Plum professorial swagger, a superior attitude, and spot on comic delivery.
Enter the mysterious and aloof Mrs. White. Dressed for mourning, this five times widowed character in black is played by Sally Nystuen Vahle. Mrs. White, whose latest husband was a nuclear scientist, seems less than distressed about her husband’s death. Is she a murderer? That’s for you to decide. However, the description of the hate she had for Yvette the maid, who had an affair with her late husband, may inform your decision. To hear Vahle cry out about “the flames! the flames!” of rage is unforgettable comic theater.
Mr. Green, a gay government worker who does not want his sexuality exposed, arrives. He is reticent, but polite and a bit of a klutz. The highest praise I can give Alex Organ’s understated, but terrifically physical and funny, portrayal is that he is reminiscent of a young Dick Van Dyke.
Miss Scarlet, a sexy, brazen, self-confident madam arrives at the mansion. Olivia de Guzman puts the Voom in “Va-Va-Voom” as Miss Scarlet. De Guzman’s Miss Scarlet seems to be rattled by nothing and can toss out sexual innuendo like a pro. This is Olivia de Guzman’s first major role at Dallas Theater Center, and it is a beyond auspicious debut, as she evokes memories of every screen sex goddess of the fifties.
The French maid Yvette is played by Christina Austin Lopez in the stereotypical French maid ultra-short uniform, but Lopez’s maid is anything but stereotypical. Silly, yes, saucy, yes, but Lopez manages to give Yvette a slightly sinister edge that makes Yvette a constant joy to watch.
Blake Henri makes a brief, but crucial appearance as Mr. Boddy. Henri makes Boddy a sort of 1950’s comical version of Tony Soprano. Boddy is the one who delivers the all-important murder weapons to be used for a reason I will not reveal.
As Wadsworth the butler, Blake Hackler delivers a comic performance that amazed me. Hackler holds the show together and is rarely off stage for nearly the entire ninety minutes of this one act play. Whether spouting off witty remarks at a rapid-fire pace or running, and sometimes tumbling, around the stage, Hackler is simply a marvel. It’s the sort of performance Nathan Lane could have pulled off 25 years ago and Hackler has every bit of the sly charm and stage filling presence of a Nathan Lane. His final scene literally had the audience screaming on opening night.
As great as all the performances are in Clue, all of them are enhanced by the phenomenal design of the play. Jo Winiarski, the scenic designer, has created a beautiful mahogany paneled mansion that transforms from foyer, to dining room, to hallway, to lounge, and more and each one is crafted perfectly. The design here makes some of the scene changes as fun as the acting and it’s rare for scenery to get applause as Winiarski’s designs did repeatedly. No less important are the brilliant lighting, sound, and costume design here. Christina Watanabe’s dramatically funny lighting effects and Sharath Patel’s sound with its underscoring and obligatory thunderstorm make the world of Clue dazzling to watch and hear and Jen Caprio takes the fashion of the fifties, especially for the females, and exaggerates it just enough to add even more hilarity to the characters.
Of course, none of the side-splitting fun of Clue could have been possible without the superb direction of Alan Muraoka. Muraoka has a true understanding of how comedy works. He knows just where to place actors and how to move and group them to get the maximum comic effect. His transition and chase scenes alone are mini masterpieces and got roars of approval from the audience at the opening.
Dallas Theater Center’s noirish farce Clue is about as perfect as a comedy can get. It is a production that could easily move to New York or London and garner rave reviews. If you don’t hurt from laughing after Clue, then your funny bone has been removed. Oh…wait…that’s a different game.
