UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It’s safe to say that the 1985 Hollywood film “Clue” is one of the most iconic comedies of the decade. For years, audiences have watched, laughed at, and quoted the antics of larger-than-life characters, played by a phenomenal cast of comedians, in the defining whodunnit of a generation.
For revivalists, the film’s cast of talented artists — including Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, and the late Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn — are going to be difficult for any actor to live up to.
Despite this, actors Zoie Tannous (Yvette) and Kyle Yampiro (Professor Plum) said they have their own ways to give these characters life. In a Center for the Performing Arts interview, Yampiro said the second national Broadway tour of “Clue” gives the actors the chance to mine personal lived experience in order to “breathe new life into these already hilarious movie characters.”
“Clue” will make its Penn State debut at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Visit “Clue” online or call 814-863-0255 for more info and to purchase tickets.
The production is an adaptation of the classic Parker Brothers (and now licensed by Hasbro) board game of the same name. “Clue” follows a cast of eight characters united for a dinner party as they must discover who murdered their host, Mr. Boddy. As the variety of strong personalities start to clash, hijinx ensue.
Tannous said she does her best to “honor Colleen Camp’s [film] performance through Yvette’s buoyancy and head-on-a-swivel physicality.” She said the play allows her the creative space to lend her own personality traits to the performance.
The magic of “Clue” is that it allows incredible characters to be honored onstage by a younger generation of performers. This allows audiences to see something familiar while still being blown away by a new wave of talent. And if there’s one thing this tour of “Clue” borrows from its film predecessor, it is the high-energy physical comedy Tannous described as “nuanced farce at its highest level of sophistication.”
It’s only natural then that, despite being a stage play and not a musical, the cast features many musical-theater actors.
“The madcap pace and the musicality of the dialogue are akin to musical theater,” Yampiro said. “I think vocal command, dexterity, and an innate sense of timing are incredibly important for ‘Clue’.”
“There are times that the script feels like a score,” Tannous said, adding to that connection.
"The toll of performing a play this high energy on tour is daunting. There are big challenges such as constantly shifting hotels and staying “properly fueled and rested on the road,” Tannous said.
Despite this, there are moments of genuine joy and community to be found as this cast tours around the continent.
“The world needs laughter right now,” Tannous said, and that getting the opportunity to make audiences laugh across the United States and Canada has been one of the most rewarding parts of the tour.
Yampiro said the most rewarding experience on this tour has been a more personal one: “Reconnecting with family and friends all over the country.”
Both actors’ said their experiences sum up one of the most beautiful parts of life on the road which is building up and finding community wherever they go.
Tannous said she adores the final moments of the show.
“It feeds the part of me that has loved these characters since childhood,” she said.
Skyler Orton (journalism, class of 2030) is a marketing communications intern at the Center for the Performing Arts.