Mystery, Mayhem and Mirth: New Broadway Season Opens with ‘Clue’

Don’t make this mix-up mistake: The marvelously mesmerizing performance of MOMIX Alice at the Granada in October was actually a make-up from a date postponed by the water damage at the theater last winter. So American Theatre Guild’s 2024-25 season of Broadway at the Granada isn’t getting underway until November 26-27, when the official North American touring company production of Clue comes to town. 

Lest there be any more misunderstandings, readers are here informed that this isn’t the ill-advised version of the classic board game known as Clue, the Musical, which closed after 29 poorly reviewed performances off-Broadway back in 1997. Get a clue: this show is Clue,a new comedy,a recent stage play based on both the game and the screenplay for the 1985 cult black comedy film, and the reviews for the even more recently revised edition that premiered this year have been just short of rapturous for the riotous comedy. 

As in the movie, blackmail and murder are on the menu when six mysterious guests are invited to assemble at Boddy Manor, where the audience, as in the board game, must decipher weapons, rooms and suspects in an attempt to suss out the host’s killer. Did Colonel Mustard use a dagger to aerate Boddy in the dining room, or perhaps Professor Plum popped Boddy with a pipe in the ballroom? 

Just as in the movie, comedy is, of course, king in the play. So said Alex Syiek, who plays Boddy – he of the corny one-liners and wordplay, not to mention the lavish comedic movements and pratfalls. 

“The physical comedy exhibited by the entire cast is just wild, with everyone able and willing to do whatever it takes with their bodies for both the plot and the humor,” said Syiek, who also worked with director Casey Hushion on Murder on the Orient Express at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse, where Clue premiered. “I have to do a pratfall and some other things, but other actors have some crazy backbends and contortionist twists and turns that are just really hilarious.” 

But the show isn’t just a silly romp, Syiek said. 

“The play really leans into the stakes that these characters are living through, the McCarthy era and being blackmailed – but they don’t know each other, so they can’t trust anyone. And that leads to a very tense and entertaining watch for an audience as they try to figure out each other and the motives for the eventual murders. The heightened stakes make every slip up that much funnier, and the mannerisms that come out as they’re stuck together in close quarters in a mansion that’s not big enough for their personalities makes everything hilarious.” 

While this version of Clue isn’t a musical, Syiek said that sequences are as carefully choreographed as a dance number. 

“So much has to be precise and to the beat, like a musical might,” he said. “We rehearsed for many days just to stage the final section of the show because of how intricate the people have to weave in and out.”

The ending on stage of course can’t completely mirror the board game where the truth is up to chance and the players. But Clue does its best to capture the way the movie handled the issue with three different endings. 

“That’s why it’s so frenzied and precise, because we’re cramming a lot of stuff in there,” Syiek said. “Audiences won’t be disappointed with the madcap energy. The whole show is only 80 minutes, so you can imagine how fast and how much action is packed into that time. It just flies by. You’re laughing the whole time.” 

But there’s also deeper meaning available beyond the hilarity, he said, noting how audience reaction to the McCarthyism aspect has shifted and changed through 10 months of touring around all regions of the United States, with the election in the backdrop. 

“It’s been very eye opening for our cast to observe that from the stage, a wild ride and honestly very illuminating,” he said. “You’re going to laugh and have a good time, but it also might make you think a little bit, which is always a good thing.”