Clue: Live on Stage is a diverting whodunnit bursting with laughs

It was Clue, with a live action cast, on stage at the Ahmanson!

Clue, first a beloved board game, then a cult classic 1985 film, is now also a stage play — and it’s a farce served up for audiences with murderous glee. Based on Jonathan Lynn’s screenplay for the 1980s film, the stage play follows six mysterious individuals, all with colorful pseudonyms, as they arrive for a night of intrigue at Boddy Manor. But as people begin to die and secrets are revealed, things spiral out of control, much to the wicked delight of the audience.

The movie version of Clue is such a delicious farce that it seems a no-brainer to adapt to the stage. With its country house setting, it fits right in with the likes of Noel Coward and Michael Frayn, and Lynn once described it as "screwball noir." So somewhat surprisingly, it was not adapted for the stage until 2017 (by Sandy Rustin with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price). It’s the revised version of this production that now makes its bow in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre (through Aug. 25).

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The production is a zippy romp that plays its murders for laughs and leans into the physical comedy of its set-ups with aplomb. Though it does add in some new quips and mildly tweaks the original screenplay, it is largely the same story as the 1985 film, albeit lacking some of the polish and precision of its cinematic predecessor.

Comparison is a losing game, but it is undeniable that the performances in the original film are truly singular. How can anyone recreate Madeline Kahn’s iconic “f-f-flames on the side of my face” moment, or imitate Tim Curry’s madcap brilliance? The answer is that no one can, and by and large, the cast wisely side-steps that minefield. (Tari Kelly is the exception there, as she seems to be striving for a Kahn impression as Mrs. White and thus delivers an inauthentic performance).

Mark Price, who plays Wadsworth, the butler and master of ceremonies for the night, puts a zany spin on the character. He possesses some of Curry’s drollness, but opts more for obsequiousness than sinister glee. He makes Wadsworth his own, infusing an erratic energy into the slippery servant.

As Miss Scarlet, Michelle Elaine does the same, making the sexiest member of the group more bawdy than sultry — a woman with a sense of humor about the vagaries of sex.

In both instances, they could’ve used stronger, sharper direction from director Casey Hushion. The show’s physical comedy, particularly from Price, feels unrefined, with many of the bits reading as either timid and unsure or worse, flailing and imprecise. The bones of superb physical antics are there, but the best farce approaches it with the exactitude of an Olympic gymnastics routine. That level of polish is absent here.

Except for the physicality of John Shartzer, who steals the show as Mr. Green. His Mr. Green, played by Michael McKean on screen, is a nebbish scaredy cat. The elasticity of Shartzer's body defies physics at times, particularly in a memorable moment when he narrowly avoids being crushed by a chandelier (rightfully, it garners the biggest laugh of the entire show). His sense of comedic timing is spot-on, be it in a wittily delivered rejoinder, a hammy reaction, or some physical acrobatics. Of the entire cast, Shartzer seems to best understand how to walk the delicate line required to make farce a fast-paced, larger-than-life endeavor while still keeping his character grounded in reality.

Lee Savage’s set design is the true standout here, though, with the cavernous Boddy Manor rendered in all its fusty, gilded glory. The cast jumps from the Lounge to the Study to the Library to the Hall with ease, as Savage has given them a playground that boasts a dizzying intricacy. It’s a marvel to behold the set’s constant transformation as it lends the actors the space to zip around the house, fall into secret passageways, and open and slam doors with hilarious alacrity.

The play maintains the concept of the film’s alternate endings, playing with the “How It Might Have Happened” set-up and interjecting surprising new twists and turns. Clue is hardly a whodunnit that cares about the answer to that question, but it sure has fun as it hurdles to its conclusion.

Clue is probably not Broadway-bound, but that’s more than okay as that’s not really the point. It seems a play tailor-made for regional audiences, one that proves a friendly entry-point for those that aren’t already avid theatergoers (something the American theater desperately needs right now). It’s not revelatory, but it will undoubtedly become a favorite among community theaters around the country with its recognizable characters, genuinely smart script, and an abundance of laughs. It’s funny and frothy and light, the kind of breezy night at the theater that most audiences would kill for right now. Grade: B