The Box in the Wood Theatre Guild’s next show will take audiences down a winding, mysterious road to find out who would dare to commit murder.
The twist is that the ending will be different every night.
Thursday, Box in the Wood will debut “Clue: The Musical,” a show that combines elements of the classic Parker Brothers board game with the 1980s film that featured three different endings. Director Brandon Byng described the show as “the best of both worlds.”
“You don’t just get to watch it. You get to play along, as the audience tries to determine who the murderer is,” Byng said.
“Clue: The Musical” takes audiences to a mansion owned by the enigmatic Mr. Boddy. He has six houseguests and staff members who all have motives to take his life. By the end of the first act, the host has bought the farm, and a police detective spends most of the second act trying to determine who had the most to gain from Boddy’s death.
While memorizing lines and music is always a challenge, the cast for this show has the added task of preparing for one of 216 endings, Byng said.
At the start of each performance, three audience members will be selected to pick a card determining the killer, the scene of the crime and the murder weapon. The cards will be put into an envelope and taken backstage so the actors can plan for the big reveal.
“Then the show goes on,” Byng said. “It’s a little more difficult (for the actors), but everyone just has to be on their toes. It’s a little nerve-racking at times, but we make it through it.”
It could be Mr. Green in the study with the lead pipe. It could be Miss Scarlet in the billiard room with the rope. The role of random chance is the star in a show that encourages repeat patronage.
Besides the mystery, there is also plenty of music to entertain audience members, and this show has a live piano player, unlike previous Box in the Wood musicals that used recorded music.
“It has a lot of fun, kitschy numbers like ‘She Hasn’t Got a Clue,’” Byng said. “There are a lot of things associated with the board game, like this one called ‘Corridors and Halls,’ which talks about the rooms in the manor.”
Byng, who is also the co-founder of Abrams Spotlight Productions, directed the same show at his home theater in 2010.
“I thought it would be fun to do it again,” Byng said. “This one is a little different because I have a lot of younger actors. When we did it originally, we had more serious actors.”
“Clue: The Musical” begins its two-week run at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Mielke Arts Center, N5649 Airport Road, Shawano.
