Clue (musical)

CLUE THE MUSICAL
Basis	The board game Clue

CLUE The Musical is a musical based on the board game Clue.

Overview

The piece is an interactive musical starting with three audience members selecting one card each from three oversized decks and placing them in an envelope. The envelope is opened at the end of the production, when the three cards will determine the ending of the show, which has 216 possible conclusions. These card selections also determine some interchangeable dialogue between certain characters which are delivered as the story unfolds.

Plot

Mr. Boddy acts as host. He invites the audience to play "the game" while introducing each of the other characters—Mrs. Peacock, Prof. Plum, Miss Scarlet, Col. Mustard, Mrs. White, and Mr. Green. At the conclusion of the opening number, three audience members are brought onstage to choose one card from each of three stacks, representing suspects, rooms and weapons. These selected cards, unseen by the audience, are placed in an oversized envelope marked "Confidential", which is displayed on stage for the duration of the musical. The selected cards determine which of 216 different endings will be played for that performance. Mr. Boddy instructs the audience on how to play along. Throughout the musical, Mr. Boddy also gives clues in the form of rhymes, which provide the audience with information they may use to solve the mystery.

In the kitchen, Mrs. White prepares dinner and argues with Mr. Boddy over her forced servitude to pay debts because Mr. Boddy once helped her son. She laments "life is a bowl of pits". In the billiard room, Mr. Green, a business partner, clashes with Mr. Boddy over missing funds. In the ballroom, Col. Mustard and Mrs. Peacock engage in an affair, and are then caught by Mr. Boddy. Over drinks in the lounge, Miss Scarlet and Mr. Green are revealed to have been business partners of Mr. Boddy and former lovers, and that Mr. Boddy double-crossed them both and unceremoniously dumped Miss Scarlet. They muse revenge and that "everyday devices" (such as a wrench and lead pipe) are dangerous when used for the wrong reasons. In the study, Prof. Plum recounts how Mr. Boddy ruined his family fortune to Mrs. White, while she tries to unsuccessfully flirt with him. In the conservatory, Mrs. Peacock plans to add Mr. Boddy to her growing list of dead husbands.

Mr. Boddy invites his guests and staff to fulfill their destiny—to murder him. They search through corridor and halls for the right combination of suspect, room and weapon. Mr. Boddy is found dead of unknown causes, but he revives as host and introduces a new character, a hard-nosed, attractive Detective. As she searches the mansion for clues, the suspects nervously speculate "she hasn't got a clue".

She returns with six possible weapons—wrench, candlestick, pipe, knife, revolver, rope—found in six rooms: lounge, kitchen, ballroom, conservatory, billiard room, and study. All of these have all the suspects fingerprints on them, which were made between 9pm and midnight, the time of Boddy's murder. In the library, the Detective questions Prof. Plum, who tries to seduce her. After his attempts fail, she in turn interrogates Col Mustard, Mr. Green, and the three ladies, as each speculates that she is a "foul-weather friend".

As the Detective prepares to make her accusation, the Suspects cry "don't blame me" and panic at "the final clue". The Detective then reveals the random killer, location, and weapon as per the cards and the killer confesses. Then, it is revealed that the previously stated murderer was only an accomplice, and that the true murderer is Professor Plum. Plum is then revealed to be an imposter, the true Plum being disguised as a piano player in the orchestra.

The Suspects ponder life beyond the mansion, but are compelled by Mr. Boddy to repeat their fate and continue playing "the game".

Characters

• Mr. Boddy – The host and controller of the game, husband of Mrs. Peacock, and victim of the murder. He loves to crack a joke.
• Detective – Arrives to solve the mystery.
• Colonel Mustard – A mentally ill man who often views people as inanimate objects, due to a fictional disease. He fancies himself a triumphant war colonel. He is implicated in the death of both of Mr. Boddy's parents and is currently having an affair with Mrs. Peacock. He is technically Mr. Boddy's step-father, having married Mr Boddy's mother after the death of her husband.
• Mr. Green – Con-artist and entrepreneur, he is a former lover of Miss Scarlet and business partner of Mr. Boddy. He often misquotes popular sayings.
• Mrs. Peacock – Black widow and chairwoman of Peacock Enterprises, married to Mr. Boddy and cheating with Col. Mustard. She was suspected in the murder of five previous husbands.
• Professor Plum – Super genius, author and imposter, his family fortune was ruined by Mr. Boddy.
• Miss Scarlet – A former Las Vegas lounge performer and former lover of Mr. Green.
• Mrs. White – The chief domestic of Boddy Manor; played by a man in the tradition of English music hall entertainments.
• Piano Player

Music

• Overture – Orchestra
• The Game – Mr. Boddy and Suspects
• Life is a Bowl of Pits – Mrs. White
• Do Unto Your Enemies – Colonel Mustard
• Everyday Devices – Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, and Suspects
• Once a Widow – Mrs. Peacock
• Corridors and Halls – Mr. Boddy and Suspects
• The Murder – Mr. Boddy and Suspects
• After the Murder (The Game reprise; Act I Finale) – Suspects
• She Hasn't Got a Clue – Suspects
• Everyday Devices (reprise) – Suspects
• Seduction Deduction – Prof. Plum and the Detective
• Foul-Weather Friend – Suspects
• Don't Blame Me – Company
• The Final Clue – Mr. Boddy and Suspects
• The Game (Finale) – Mr. Boddy and Suspects
• She Hasn't Got a Clue (reprise)/Bows – Company