CLUE: LIVE ON STAGE’ IS A DELIGHTFUL FARCE THAT IS MORE ABOUT LAUGHS AND NOSTAGIA THAN MURDER, RUNNING THROUGH SUNDAY, DEC. 7 AT ARSHT CENTER IN MIAMI

On the surface, ‘Clue: Live on Stage’ appears to be a story about solving a murder mystery and sounds like it will be a whodunit dramatic mystery with the audience being on edge until the mystery is solved. 

Except the reality of this play is different as audiences will see as “Clue: Live on Stage” is running now though Sunday, Dec.7 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami as part of the Broadway in Miami series this season.

In fact, the play is a farce, a humorous look at the many comical and over the top characters from the 1985 film “Clue”, based on the “Clue” Hasbro mystery board game invented in 1949. The film has developed a strong following and featured multiple endings on the topic of “Who committed the murder” in the film that has been duplicated in the current stage version at the Arsht Center.

The play is set in Boddy Manor, a mansion of epic proportions in New England. Six strangers, greeted by the butler Wadsworth (portrayed by actor Adam Brett) and the maid Yvette (Zoie Tannous)  are invited to dinner by Mr. Boddy (Joseph Dalfonso) with each guest receiving a pseudonym, being “Mr. Green” (TJ Lamando), “Colonel Mustard” (Nate Curlott), “Mrs. Peacock (Madeline Raube), “Professor Plum” (Kyle Vampiro), “Miss Scarlett” (Camille Capers) and “Mrs. White” (Sarah Mackenzie Baron).

Boddy knows the strangers he invited to dinner have secrets to protect. Boddy blackmails his guests if they conspire with Wadsworth (who wants to call the police) to arrest Boddy for a crime he committed..When Wadsworth calls the police to arrest Boddy, Boddy provides weapons for the guests to use- candlestick, dagger, lead pipe, revolver, rope, wrench  and suggests that someone kill Wadsworth to protect their secrets prior to  turning  out the lights  After a gunshot is heard, Boddy is found on the floor, seemingly dead to the guests.

This is when the play becomes a madcap comedy involving humorous scenarios from the entire cast, especially involving the solutions to “Who Killed Boddy” and other characters, or even the scenario of if anybody is really dead in Boddy Manor. 

Each of the characters uses the weapons in a manner that adds to the laughs with physical pratfalls, mistaken identities (including an unnamed motorist) and each character recalling to the others why a murder was committed. Among the zany characters that are added to the intrigue are a singing telegram girl, a cop who resembles former FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover and an evangelist.

There are multiple solutions to the madcap endings, as many of the characters explain (often more than once) why he/she committed the murders, even if they did not murder Boddy and/or others.

Watching the funny scenarios unfold in “Clue: Live On Stage” is a more humorous experience than trying to analyze the plot and story. The audience was laughing heartily at every scenario throughout the play.

In fact, the audience on opening night was so familiar with the characters and plot that many dressed up as “Mr. Boddy” and “Miss Scarlett” in preparation for the madcap humor.

Along with the 11 member cast, director Casey Hushion, costume designer Jen Caprio and lighting director Ryan O’Gara and other behind the stage personnel are to be credited with keeping the pace of “Clue: Live On Stage” brisk and funny.

The madcap one act comedy “Clue: Live On Stage”, based on the Jonathan Lynn screenplay of the 1985 film “Clue”, is running until Sunday, December 7 at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd in downtown Miami. Showtimes are 8 p.m. each night except for Sunday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. Matinee showtimes are on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. and on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $47.97- $176.67 .For tickets and more information, call 305-949-6722 or go to arshtcenter.org.