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Exclusive Interview: Kevin Keller of Open Book Theatre Company's 'Clue' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  There's a mystery afoot at Open Book Theatre Company with their production of Clue.
• 0:03
  And today we're talking to one of the cast members, Kevin Keller, about his time on this production.
• 0:07
  Thank you so much for joining us today, Kevin.
• 0:09
  Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
• 0:10
  Really happy to be here.
• 0:12
  So you just had your opening weekend for Clue.
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  What was that like to finally bring the show to the audience?
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  Oh, it was great.
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  mean, Clue is such a high energy show that we reached a point where like, running it alone, we were just like begging for someone to come and laugh at us.
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  So it was really, really amazing to have such big house days.
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  We were basically sold out our entire first weekend.
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  So yeah, it's been great.
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  Yeah, it's been a blast.
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  I mean, you're 100 % correct.
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  This is one of those shows that like, is high octane from start to finish.
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  There's really no set, like, there's not a slow moment in this show.
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  So what is that energy like for you as an actor?
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  Cause you're kind of playing one of the main pieces of this puzzle.
• 0:52
  Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's super fun.
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  So I mean, if you think about it though, like the first like 15, 20 minutes of the show, we're kind of ramping up to that first murder when things really start to unleash.
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  So there's that like simmering steadiness.
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  So like I have to be pretty still.
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  And then the second I get to start running, it's like a blast.
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  And it kind of takes you on a ride from there.
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  ah But yeah, it's, you just kind of like pace yourself out and keep the energy going.
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  And then it's, it's a blast.
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  Those last 20 or so minutes is where it really just all like, it's impossible at that point.
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  Yeah, yeah, I mean the the last couple murders into the monologue and then the reveals is like Just you're catching your breath up until the the last moment when I stand up for
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  curtain call.
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  So yeah
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  So for maybe those who are not familiar with this, Clue, this is based off like the board game, which is based off of the Tim Curry led film, which is eventually found its way onto
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  the stage.
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  So what's kind of the story of Clue and how has this production adapted that story?
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  Yeah, mean, so Clue is an iconic 1980s comedy film starring like million comedy legends.
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  um And it follows a group of guests who are invited to Boddy Manor uh on one dark and stormy night to hopefully bring to end a black male that has been hanging over their
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  shoulders for quite some time.
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  And when the six iconic murder weapons are placed in their hands, murders begin and chaos ensues from there.
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  Yeah.
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  perfect way to sum it up without spoiling any, I just like, as I was preparing, was like, how is he going to talk about this without spoiling too much?
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  And that, you wrapped it all up.
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  That was perfect.
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  But true, it captures that energy of clue that even as a, in a board game, you can understand, but like, I remember growing up on the film, the film is, like you said,
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  iconic and it has so many great comedic actors and it's just such fun.
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  that it does kind of make the perfect stage production.
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  Yeah, it's kind of shocking how well it translates to stage, because the movie, it's like, they're all over this house, a lot of the bits are running around the house in all the
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  different locations, and when you bring it to stage, it just kind of clicks in this farce sense, uh because we are so used to those high octane, word-based comedies that become
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  physical comedies, too.
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  Yeah.
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  with the stage production prior to being in it?
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  um So I had seen the stage production a couple of times.
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  I remember when Meadow Brook produced it with this new adaptation of the script a couple of years ago, and then I saw the national tour when it came through, and then yeah, and
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  then I've obviously been a part of this one.
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  And I grew up on the film too.
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  It was one of the movies that my family watched a lot and we quote pretty often.
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  mean, long story short, too late is something that we quote to each other all the time.
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  So yeah.
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  That's awesome.
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  That's awesome.
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  So it's really cool that this is kind like a full circle moment to finally be back in the show and getting to experience it in a different way.
• 3:59
  Yeah, I mean, I never would have imagined doing it on stage.
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  even know it was a play until, I mean, 10 or so years ago.
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  And then I never thought that I could actually be a part of it either.
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  And living it out, it's just, it's really a dream come true.
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  So you're playing Wadsworth, who is the butler.
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  What is kind of Wadsworth piece in this big puzzle?
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  Yeah, I mean, the character description literally says he's the driving force of the play.
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  So he is bringing them from room to room.
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  He sets up the kind of intrigue that launches the play into its final, like, its latter half.
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  So the job there is to, like, keep things going, to set up the tension and then kind of set up the comedy later, and to really drive that play to its...
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  chaotic conclusion.
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  So what is your process for developing a character such as this one?
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  Yeah, I mean, obviously we have the movie and it's-
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  iconography to start from, but you don't want to take too much from it or else you're living in a world that like, I will never be Tim Curry.
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  And that is a thing that I'm okay with.
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  But obviously there are things that when an audience comes to see something as iconic as Clue, they want to see.
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  So what things can I kind of bring into my own body?
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  And then what other elements come from my director, from the rest of the team, and especially because we're working in a pretty small space, um how we can incorporate
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  physicality and things into
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  the space that we have in front of us.
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  You know, you mentioned that you're never gonna be Tim Curry, but I've seen you in quite a few productions and you are a very talented actor.
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  So I feel like if anyone could step into Tim Curry's shoes, it's gonna be you.
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  Yeah, I mean, everyone told me this is like a perfect fit, but I was so terrified leading up into it, that like being here, it feels great now that I'm actually doing it, but
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  everything before that was like, ah, it's such a big iconic part to step into, but now that it's running, I feel pretty good.
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  Did it take a little bit of time to feel like this was your role instead of just like, I'm following in all of these other iconic actors'
• 6:11
  Yeah, mean, it's until we had the whole piece structured and staged, it was just a very like daunting um thing to tackle because there's so much that you have to kind of keep
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  track in your brain as you're performing it.
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  um
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  And so, like, until I knew how it felt to go from beginning to end, I was like, my god, I'm never gonna do this.
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  But it does eventually click itself all into place, and you're like, oh, the show kind of takes you on a ride once it begins, and you just gotta go along with what the energy takes
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  you on.
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  Yeah, yeah.
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  for sure, like the show's pulling you in a certain way, you're just along for the ride.
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  um
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  up kind of becoming this like chaotic ballet at the end.
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  So you're just like, once you know the steps, you got to just prepare to perform it.
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  Yeah.
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  So has there been a challenge then to bringing in a character such as this to life?
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  Because I know that Wadsworth is kind of larger than life in some ways, you know?
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  Yeah, I mean, if anything, it is um quite the test of my stamina and even my cardiovascular strength.
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  um you're throwing your body around.
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  And so the biggest challenge is taking care of myself and getting to the end and still holding it all together in the body.
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  Yeah.
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  It's such a physical performance that you're just like, how do I?
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  prep for that, part of it too.
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  ah But yeah, that's, been the biggest challenge is like just keep and breathing.
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  uh
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  Right, you're like making sure that at the end you can still say your lines without being out of breath.
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  Yeah, without falling over, yeah.
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  Give me that energy with a favor last minute.
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  Yeah.
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  So you had mentioned that the staging is maybe not as big as maybe you'd like for a Clue production.
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  What is it like, I guess, is there challenges that had to be changed or reworked for this production to make Clue work for Open Book Theatre's stage?
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  Yes, mean, Open Book is, an 80-seat house and we're working in a thrust format, so the audience is on three sides.
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  So we don't have the beauty of like a fly system or like the ability to change that too much.
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  So I think the biggest challenge that we had in front of us and that Henry tackled so stunningly, our director, uh was creating...
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  you know, a bunch of different rooms in a space that never physically changes besides chair orientations.
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  We have a couple of rolling platforms that come through and, you know, a bar cart that moves.
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  So we're doing a lot with a little and it totally makes sense when you're in it and watching it.
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  I think that's one of the cool things about something like Clue is that it doesn't need a lot to still capture the game or the movie, you know?
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  You just need pieces that can still capture that environment and that feel.
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  And like really comes down to the people and the characters that really do make this show so special.
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  Yeah, and we have really an incredible team of performers in this cast, like a bunch of big personalities, which you need for a show like this.
• 9:20
  And everyone is so funny and so smart, and it's just a thrill to like share it with every night and bounce the energy back and forth.
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  Speaking about the cast I'm assuming because this is such a fun show that at times it can be almost Difficult to stay in character when you're playing off of each other to such an
• 9:38
  extent ah Is it difficult or like like how is that energy with all of you guys because I saw this cast and it's you're right It's absolutely stacked.
• 9:46
  I was in awe of just the sheer amount of talent on there, but I can't imagine that it's easy to like Laugh with each other through the show
• 9:55
  Yeah, mean, rehearsals were just like a riot front to finish.
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  And there have been times where we're like quietly laughing at each other, but in the production, I think there's so much to keep straight that we're usually pretty good at
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  staying locked or supporting each other when we need it.
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  But the green room, the backstage moments, it's like we're all so happy to spend time with each other and it's a laugh a minute.
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  This is why you guys are the professionals, because I would be breaking every other minute.
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  I would not be able to look you straight in the face when you're pulling off some of these lines and just be like, because they're so funny.
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  It's such a funny show.
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  And I think that people will appreciate that.
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  So with this being such a funny show, and again, these are characters from a board game and from a movie, how do you kind of find the humanity in a character such as this when it
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  can kind of almost border on like, for lack of a better word, almost cartoonish, because it's bigger, of grander than life?
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  How do you kind of find the humanity with Wadsworth?
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  mean, the stakes of Clue are quite literally life or death.
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  So you have something like really immediate to ground yourself into.
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  So I mean Wadsworth at the end of the day, in the first half of show, he has a job to do and he is going to execute it.
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  So staying like really...
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  forward motion, kind of keeping everyone in check.
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  And then through the rest of the show, like it is cartoonish, but there is a murderer and we are running around for our lives and discovering things and trying to keep that
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  ourselves and the people around us alive.
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  So those are some pretty real places to find yourself into.
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  And then you get to kind of explode it out from there.
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  You know, it's interesting because again, I've seen this the national tour before.
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  I never thought of the fact that like for these people, it's a real life.
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  Like it is really like life or death.
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  It's a murder going on like because it is so funny from the outside and it is such that that game where like when you're playing as a kid, there's not as much stakes.
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  But like for these characters for Wadsworth, people are actually dying.
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  So that does kind of ground you in that.
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  it's also grounded in the McCarthy trials and like the Red Scare and blacklisting and all of these things.
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  So people are quite afraid of what the secrets that they hold could do to them and the people around them were to get out after this evening is over.
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  So they have a lot to play with too,
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  For sure, for sure.
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  So for you during the show, what is the most rewarding moment to perform on stage for audiences?
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  there's a couple moments that I really love.
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  mean, obviously tackling that iconic monologue near the end is like, you feel like you've done it all and it's a huge check mark off the list.
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  That it's just, it's a thrill to perform, it's a challenge, and also it's the most fun you could have.
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  um
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  for
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  there's little moments here and there, like there's this scene change that is like a little difficult to perform and we all, when we lock into place, you can like feel us all
• 12:58
  kind of cheer each other on and start the next scene.
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  um And there's a great dance sequence in the middle of it too.
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  And I love any time I get to like dance.
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  And so I have a great dance partner in Danielle Wright.
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  And so like doing that little moment with her is really fun too.
• 13:13
  That's so awesome.
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  There's quite a few moments then that are really are so cool to bring to life on this stage, it sounds like.
• 13:18
  Yeah, yeah.
• 13:20
  Just one final question for you then, it's just what are you hoping to answer this takeaway from this production of Clue?
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  Yeah, I mean, it's been a dreary winter and I hope that everyone just has the time of their lives for an hour and a half at Open Book.
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  And it's really such a joy to perform and I hope people have a great time and leave a little happier than when they came in.
• 13:45
  And that we can do that for them.
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  Which I'm sure that they will, because there's not a production of Clue that just isn't fun to go sit back and enjoy and have a, like you said, it's 80, 90 minutes.
• 13:58
  That's not a huge investment of time, but it's worth every moment that you're there.
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  So I think that that is something that I hope people really enjoy.
• 14:06
  Yeah, yeah.
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  just, people are having a great time so far and I'm excited to see how it goes into the future weeks that we have together.
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  uh
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  Well, thank you so much, Kevin, for being here.
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  It's been such a pleasure talking with you.
• 14:19
  Yes, thank you so much for having me.
• 14:21
  So Clue runs at Open Book Theatre Company through February 1st, so get your tickets now and we'll see you at the show.