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'Clue Live on Stage!' Technical Aspects · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Box Seat Babes podcast, newly rebranded from the Cosmic Curtain.
• 0:05
  The name might look a little different, but we're still bringing you all the news and reviews from Broadway and locally here in Michigan that you've come to expect.
• 0:12
  In this episode, we will be continuing our Clue Live on Stage discussion, turning towards the technical side of the show.
• 0:18
  But before we dive into this episode, don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe to us on all social media platforms at Box Seat Babes.
• 0:25
  Spoiler warning, we will be discussing Clue live on stage and the 1985 Tim Curry film it's based on.
• 0:32
  So if you've not seen this film or this show, which is currently on its North American tour and want to avoid spoilers, save this episode and come back to it later.
• 0:41
  Thank you again for joining us here at the Box Seat Babes podcast and we hope you enjoy.
• 0:49
  So on our last Clue episode, we broke down the stories and characters of this farcical stage show.
• 0:55
  However, on this episode, we're going to be talking about some of the technical aspects of what you can expect from Clue.
• 1:01
  from acting to humor, set design, and then how, or if we would see this again, and what we would rate this.
• 1:08
  So without further ado, RJ, what did you think of the acting of the show?
• 1:19
  I thought it was well done.
• 1:25
  can't think of anything specific currently that stood out to me.
• 1:34
  like either on either side in regards to like super super well done or like super not great.
• 1:43
  There were a few timing like comedic timing things that felt a little bit
• 1:51
  off.
• 1:55
  But I think that was based on the lack of audience engagement maybe in those times.
• 2:01
  Like a joke just didn't land right.
• 2:04
  Or the pause after the joke or in between was just like too long and uncomfortable.
• 2:14
  But
• 2:17
  Yeah, there was a few of those.
• 2:18
  I remember one specifically with Miss Scarlet where she said something and she looked out towards the audience and we did not respond the way that she either wanted us to or that
• 2:28
  we were supposed to.
• 2:29
  And it was nearly silent as the joke went off, which I know sometimes happens.
• 2:35
  But yeah, it definitely, there was a few times where that just hit a little odd.
• 2:41
  Yeah.
• 2:42
  And I know generally the one that you're speaking on, and I'm trying to remember if it's because the line got like slurred or there was a couple of times where lines either got
• 2:53
  slurred or like stuttered, like they stumbled through it and then it directly affects the joke.
• 3:03
  and so I think that might've been one of those times.
• 3:05
  Could be wrong, but that happens.
• 3:09
  part of me wonders too, because I know that Professor Plum, Graham Stevens, who I got to interview, he was new.
• 3:20
  It was his first time, that was his first night ever being a principal role in the show.
• 3:26
  And when you pull up the cast and creatives on the websites still, there's a few roles that actually are different.
• 3:35
  Colonel Mustard being one of them.
• 3:37
  Mrs.
• 3:38
  is different than the one we got, and of course, Professor Plum.
• 3:41
  And so three out of the six characters that were mostly on stage, three out of seven, if you count Wadsworth, are either new enough that they're not on the website, and or that
• 3:51
  was their first performance of the show, which maybe that was leading to part of that.
• 3:56
  Yeah, think, I mean, of course, chemistry can be everything, especially in a non-musical and in a show that is so, such a small cast and you're the physical comedy is also a huge
• 4:14
  thing.
• 4:14
  And once again, like if you just, if you've had minimal rehearsal with someone and you're doing physical comedy and a lot of it is in the dark, by the way, that
• 4:25
  Work in heart, I mean, even though it's choreographed the same and everything is down to a movement, there's still a level of even distrust to yourself because your nerves, your
• 4:41
  heart's pounding, especially if you're opening in the role for the first time or opening in a role at all on a national tour, things of that nature.
• 4:51
  Like so many things.
• 4:53
  can be going on that can affect, you know, I mean, a lot of the show, they're all hanging on each other.
• 5:01
  They're running around with each other.
• 5:02
  There's fight scenes.
• 5:05
  Again, much of it in the dark and physical running involved.
• 5:13
  Like, I give bad props to folks when they, especially when they join tours too, because
• 5:21
  You have half the cast who know each other, they work together, they know what they're doing.
• 5:25
  And then you're just trying to, even with your rehearsal time, it doesn't compare to months or weeks of showtime together.
• 5:38
  I had just I just interviewed somebody from come from away and they spoke on how They had been with the production for over a year now and they saw a cast change where half the
• 5:50
  cast left and like part of the conversation was it Changed so much because you no longer can just like do muscle memory because you don't have the same muscle memory with these
• 6:00
  people You don't have the same reactions.
• 6:02
  You don't have that so it makes sense that like
• 6:03
  There is that level of distrust probably for everybody on that stage a level of a little bit of uncomfortableness of not being comfortable around each other because you've just if
• 6:11
  that was their first night together that that had to take a lot of energy to produce
• 6:19
  Yeah, I mean, just the smallest mannerisms and placements, especially in a show like this where it matters, like, where did you put this prop?
• 6:28
  Is it six inches to the left of where it used to be?
• 6:33
  Like, tiny little things.
• 6:35
  You know, where exactly are you standing?
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  Like, yes, these things are all blocked.
• 6:40
  They're all choreographed.
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  But the way that a person leans, the way that a person, are they left-handed or right-handed?
• 6:47
  Are they standing more to the center of the spot or to the left or to the right?
• 6:51
  Like that all directly contributes to the way in which the whole flow of the show can change.
• 7:05
  Absolutely.
• 7:05
  And that's not including for things that just don't go right.
• 7:08
  there was, I don't know if you noticed, but in the multiple ending scene, Mrs.
• 7:12
  White, when she went to go open her purse, it would not open for her to get the object.
• 7:16
  And you could tell that like she was slightly thrown off, not knowing what to do with that scene.
• 7:22
  And again, if this was her first time, cause she's not on the website, that probably had to be very like discombobulating, like almost like an anxiety of being like, I'm on stage
• 7:30
  for this performance and it's not going the way it's supposed to go.
• 7:34
  Yeah.
• 7:34
  And I mean, and once again, like these people are professionals.
• 7:37
  They've done this probably the majority of their lives in different facets, but it doesn't matter how long you've done it or you know, what you're doing.
• 7:50
  Like in that moment, the only thing is that moment.
• 7:55
  like we, I had a similar interaction in, Sweeney Todd.
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  I was supposed to.
• 8:03
  get handed a coin by a cast member.
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  And it's a pivotal moment in the scene.
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  Like him paying me is important.
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  And for some reason, he didn't have the coin or it wasn't in the pouch when it was supposed to be.
• 8:21
  And so for a moment, we just kind of stood there in awkwardness.
• 8:26
  And then he ad-libbed a line to, you know, continue the show to go on.
• 8:31
  we did.
• 8:35
  but it's still, you could tell it through all of us off because it affected other people on the stage.
• 8:42
  And so in that moment, you're not only still trying to stay in character and be calm and collected, but you have to think five steps ahead to be like, okay, this is going to
• 8:53
  affect this, which affects this.
• 8:55
  So I'm sure she was thinking like, okay, if I don't get this as she's actively trying to, I think it was a poll.
• 9:03
  the
• 9:05
  like the circle out of the little metal.
• 9:08
  To get the rope out.
• 9:10
  yes, to get the rope out, she's thinking, I mean, as she's actively doing that, she's probably thinking five lines ahead, like, okay, if I can't pull this out, what can I say?
• 9:20
  What can I do?
• 9:21
  How can we rewrite this now?
• 9:24
  And that's, that is my worst nightmare.
• 9:31
  Yeah, improving on the stage for a stage show that doesn't have improv is probably terrifying.
• 9:37
  I couldn't imagine or think that quickly on my feet.
• 9:41
  I mean, and that's AdLiming.
• 9:43
  I mean, it's the name of the game.
• 9:46
  Everybody's had to do it for sure more than once in their life if they've been on stage.
• 9:51
  Some people thrive in that environment and some people do not.
• 9:57
  You know, you had made mention of the monologue by Jeff Scowron of Wadsworth, which I think that there was two characters specifically that were really, I thought were really
• 10:08
  good in this one, and they were ones that had been there for a while.
• 10:11
  And there was Wadsworth, who had a lot of physical comedy.
• 10:14
  He had a lot of monologuing.
• 10:15
  You could tell that he was definitely kind of the narrator of the show, and he was kind of guiding them a lot that night into like, from scene to scene, and to make sure that things
• 10:24
  were happening and.
• 10:25
  You could tell that there was lot of almost pressure on Jeff's shoulders to make that show go off without a hitch.
• 10:34
  But I really liked Mr.
• 10:37
  Green.
• 10:38
  And I think that this has to go with the comedy of it.
• 10:43
  He was a very, there was a lot of physical comedy that he portrayed with his body across the stage.
• 10:52
  And to me, that was
• 10:54
  That was hilarious.
• 10:57
  Did you like that?
• 10:58
  Did you like the physical comedy of his character?
• 11:02
  I mean, it was the most of the most.
• 11:08
  And so I just...
• 11:12
  And that particular, like, I think there were a couple different tropes that they were kind of, you know, throwing in there.
• 11:20
  And so I was just like, oh, this, this again, this one, this is the joke.
• 11:28
  So, yeah.
• 11:32
  Yeah, and I'm like, whew, that's tired.
• 11:36
  And that's just probably also 100,000 % a bias thing.
• 11:41
  And I know it's supposed to be comedy and funny.
• 11:45
  I'm just like, we couldn't think of anything else.
• 11:50
  This is the one, this is the thing.
• 11:53
  But in the same breath, I think he got the most laughs.
• 11:59
  he did and I think part of it like I'm thinking of like the the physicality that he had with his body.
• 12:04
  I'm going back to the scene specifically where the chandelier drops and it goes to the slow motion and he slow motions does like the limbo.
• 12:12
  It's on the ground while having complete control of his body, which I think is just shows how talented he was.
• 12:21
  And so for me that kind of like that's why he deserves a lot of the praise for the show because not only again he's helping to carry the show because he's been there a while, but
• 12:27
  he also
• 12:29
  does a lot of this heavy physical humor for the show that a lot of the other characters don't have.
• 12:38
  Well, I mean, yeah, he like basically full out matrixed.
• 12:43
  got some, some Terminator, but yeah, I mean, he carries much of the show, with the, but he's probably the most physical aside from Wadsworth, I think.
• 13:04
  and that is his, characterization like.
• 13:08
  he somehow all of the bodies around him, somehow he's, you know, the blood and the germaphobe type, you know, everything.
• 13:20
  And then of course the ending.
• 13:22
  you know, I mean, at the same time, I mean, I definitely appreciated him as an actor, like as a literal actor.
• 13:31
  think that takes a lot.
• 13:34
  And it was just the right amount of
• 13:39
  personification to make you wonder, like you left kind of still wondering who he actually is, like, character-wise.
• 13:50
  who is he really.
• 13:52
  Whereas everyone else, like, it still kind of felt true to who they were being portrayed as.
• 13:58
  It's funny you say that because I remember that about the film too.
• 14:01
  And I remember that about Mr.
• 14:02
  Green never feeling true to who he was because you didn't know who he was until the, you know, until the end and you still don't really know who he is.
• 14:10
  I mean, from that first moment that you meet him, like the physical comedy of he crosses his legs, you know, it sits down, he like crosses his legs up and his body falls down.
• 14:22
  Like there's just like this, there's this oddity to him of like that, like a normal person would like when you're to sit would
• 14:27
  sit to the ground and he does it in the air.
• 14:32
  Very odd, very strange, but the rest of them are very much character creatures that you recognize and that you would know and you would assume are in this game that you've played
• 14:40
  as a child.
• 14:41
  Well, if you listen to episode one, you find out RJ did not play this as a child, but I digress.
• 14:48
  Don't, With this show though, there's lots of different kinds of humor.
• 14:56
  Was there a specific, like there's, you know, there's, like a dead panning.
• 14:59
  There's the jokes that are trying to get you to laugh.
• 15:02
  There's the fourth wall breaks.
• 15:03
  There's the looking at the audiences.
• 15:04
  A lot of it felt very old school comedy tropes, but was there anything that like you felt worked really well with the show or there was there some, was there types of humor that
• 15:13
  you think didn't fit well with the show?
• 15:18
  I mean, I think it all was all in alignment with what people's expectations were.
• 15:24
  I mean, you have the transition scenes of running in place and yeah, the physical comedy, even the most violent parts were just like so, so fake, right?
• 15:41
  you know, the, was it the?
• 15:46
  knife to the head or the pipe and just like the the fact that it was obviously like plastered on his it was a piece of plastic on his head you know like it's just as
• 16:00
  slapstick as it as it comes
• 16:04
  Yeah, it was almost to the point where it looked cheap, but it worked for it.
• 16:08
  know, like, like it didn't need a lot of money put into this because you weren't it wasn't supposed to be like convincing that that person was dead.
• 16:16
  We were it was almost like watching.
• 16:20
  Like watching a show being put on, if that makes sense, like like, you know, I mean, like a meta-ness to it of like a show within a show almost.
• 16:29
  Yeah, and I think that plays to like the game-liness of it.
• 16:34
  Just this plastic feeling.
• 16:36
  Like everything felt plasticky.
• 16:39
  Even down to, I think, one of the first scenes when they're running around and the Colonel pulls out like what I think is the game board.
• 16:47
  It's a map, but that is the game board, right?
• 16:50
  So all these little jabs and the physical, like the candlestick in...
• 16:58
  in the cops head, just like clearly just like placed, you know, it just it's and the cook I think was the most obvious one where the the pool of blood was just like this literal
• 17:11
  chunk of red material.
• 17:13
  Yeah, it's supposed to like you're like, they're dead.
• 17:22
  Yes.
• 17:24
  Like almost like high school performances, but like with a caliber of actors who were good at their craft.
• 17:32
  You know what I mean?
• 17:36
  But you speak about the game board, right before that, Mrs.
• 17:39
  Scarlett, and I don't know who she was with, have been Professor Plumb, but they came out and they had pieces of paper that they were kind of marking down, which is also a part of
• 17:46
  the game.
• 17:47
  Yep.
• 17:50
  Yeah.
• 17:50
  All the, the ploys got to wrap it all together.
• 17:54
  And this kind of even goes into the setting, the set design and the lighting and stuff like that with the level of humor of like, when you say someone's arrived and the lights
• 18:04
  flicker and the lightning goes off and the rooms that from the game that fold out and they look like the board games and then they fold back in.
• 18:14
  Like there was some really cool pieces to the set design, but it all again seemed like everything was tied back to the humor, which again, it makes sense for this show.
• 18:24
  Yes, and I will say like even the set itself felt flat.
• 18:30
  Even though there were pieces that came out and such, like the doors weren't real.
• 18:35
  They were flat doors.
• 18:39
  Everything was thin and of course like that could also just be like budget, but it lends itself to the show because yeah, like even dramatically slamming a door, was like paper,
• 18:52
  like it just like shut.
• 18:57
  so, and yeah, the, lighting, even when he's doing the recap at the end, very quickly, like mentioning there were dogs barking and there was lightning and it was raining and like all
• 19:09
  these things to, set the scene.
• 19:11
  Right.
• 19:14
  because without them, like for sure it would, the, atmosphere would just feel completely different.
• 19:20
  for sure.
• 19:21
  Part of me wonders about this because I agree it did feel like some of it looked cheap and I was wondering again if this is like like the tour budget you know but then there's also
• 19:29
  was the mechanisms of the rooms that would swing out which felt like a higher budget so for from your point of view do you feel like this was like an intentionality thing or do
• 19:37
  you think this was the budget thing or do you think it was a mixture of both?
• 19:41
  I think it was purposeful.
• 19:42
  think if they wanted a real set door, I mean, they have enough time to install it as a set, right?
• 19:53
  But I think it plays again into the board game idea, into the comically thin, even pulling out the library or flipping those rooms.
• 20:10
  It's supposed to be light.
• 20:11
  It's supposed to be funny.
• 20:14
  You're almost supposed to see through it.
• 20:17
  It's not meant to be real life.
• 20:20
  It's not meant to imitate real life.
• 20:22
  It's meant to imitate a game.
• 20:25
  Yes.
• 20:26
  And it almost felt like you were watching your childlike self play the game.
• 20:30
  That's how I pictured it sometimes in my head.
• 20:35
  There wasn't a fully formed picture of what this was in your head.
• 20:41
  It was almost like Scooby-Doo.
• 20:42
  It feels cheap and fake because it's a board game coming to life in your head.
• 20:49
  Yeah, yeah, agreed.
• 20:53
  So before we wrap up, obviously we have to talk about our rewatchability and our ratings.
• 20:57
  So how would you rate this show?
• 21:00
  Like if you had to give it a score or a grade, where would you be?
• 21:04
  And I'll start this one off.
• 21:05
  I'll give you some time to think about it.
• 21:07
  Having seen the show, having played the game.
• 21:11
  I'm gonna give this a C, like a C plus maybe.
• 21:15
  you're passing, the nostalgic factor, I didn't feel it.
• 21:20
  And again, I wonder if this is because I didn't watch the film very much.
• 21:23
  I watched it a few times.
• 21:24
  I've seen it maybe once or twice as a teenager, once or twice as an adult.
• 21:30
  But I didn't get the same laughter that I noticed other people like your friends that you brought who were roaring with laughter, who were just a little bit older than us, who
• 21:40
  probably,
• 21:41
  were a little more experienced with the show.
• 21:43
  hope she doesn't listen to this and think that experience means old.
• 21:46
  That's not what I mean here.
• 21:46
  But like there was a little more connectivity to it.
• 21:49
  I feel like they would probably rate it higher.
• 21:53
  But for me, this did this some nostalgic factor, but it was just enough for like a passing grade.
• 22:01
  Yeah, I...
• 22:07
  I would probably give it like a D.
• 22:11
  Not, not, and let me clarify, not the actors themselves, but the production.
• 22:20
  I thought what they did with what they were doing was very well done.
• 22:28
  I just, can understand why the show didn't go to Broadway.
• 22:31
  I can understand why it has, you know,
• 22:35
  probably seen better days.
• 22:39
  They're truly...
• 22:44
  there is no pull for me for the show.
• 22:46
  Like there's no reason for me to tell people to go see it unless they like absolutely are enamored with the movie.
• 22:58
  So I mean, I personally would not go see it again.
• 23:07
  And I always hate to say that for shows, because I know that people...
• 23:11
  but so much work and time and effort into them.
• 23:13
  But if we're talking strictly production value, probably say a D.
• 23:21
  I say that this is one of those shows, I think I'm gonna preface this by saying too, I would not go see it for the prices that they were.
• 23:28
  This did not feel like a show, this did not feel like a show that could take in the price tags that were given there unless you were again, banging on the nostalgia factor.
• 23:41
  But if you take out the prices from this as well, I would not go see this unless somebody really wanted to go see it.
• 23:46
  I think that is the key takeaway here.
• 23:48
  It's like, this is a show you go see with somebody,
• 23:50
  And you could almost get enjoyment out of it with them.
• 23:53
  I like, I know what my friends talked about having watched this film.
• 23:55
  They really wanted to go see it.
• 23:57
  And so they were, they were excited, excited about it.
• 24:01
  And so like going to see it with someone like that would be exciting.
• 24:04
  I could not imagine taking your sister or your mom to see this without them having a relationship to it and enjoying it with them or having them enjoy it.
• 24:12
  I think, I think my mom who has seen the movie once, I don't think she would get the connection out of it either.
• 24:20
  This is for hardcore fans who are deeply related to the source material.
• 24:27
  And so for that, probably wouldn't see it either again.
• 24:32
  Why does that feel so mean to say?
• 24:36
  I mean, to be fair, we're overall very, very nice.
• 24:40
  And I think...
• 24:45
  are the content again, and even over the last episode and this one, the acting and the comedy and the talent were high.
• 24:58
  The writing and the production is just lower for those who, once again, sometimes there's just not an appeal for people in the show.
• 25:11
  And you want to, and you just can't.
• 25:14
  Absolutely.
• 25:15
  I think that we went into this with open minds.
• 25:17
  I think that we just walked away with like, it was good, but it wasn't great.
• 25:21
  It was it was a fun time.
• 25:23
  But this isn't one that I'm going to talk about with a ton of people unless they get are very excited.
• 25:30
  It was a one night only.
• 25:33
  Literally.
• 25:34
  So for those who have that, go and see it and enjoy it.
• 25:38
  And if you have different opinions, please let us know.
• 25:40
  We'd love to hear who likes these shows and why you liked it.
• 25:45
  And this is the fun thing about theater is that everybody has a different perspective.
• 25:48
  Everybody has a different experience.
• 25:50
  And you can enjoy something and one person can dislike it and we can both move on with our lives.
• 25:57
  So with that, we are actually done with our part two of our Clue discussion.
• 26:04
  So stay tuned as we continue to bring you more shows from Broadway and here locally in Michigan on future episodes of the Conspic Curtain.
• 26:12
  Thanks again for joining us in our box seats until next curtain.