Clue at the Paper Mill

[Sauja]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 12:48pm

The Paper Mill production of a play version of Clue started last night, and I'm so curious if anyone saw it or is planning to soon. Clue is one of my favorite movies, so I'm tempted but also, Paper Mill is a bit of a hike to get to, so...any word would be MUCH appreciated!

[adotburr]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 1:04pm

I agree- over 2 hr drive for me. Waiting to hear reviews before I purchase a ticket. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 1:26pm

I’m supposed to see it tomorrow night (friend of a friend had to offload tickets due to an emergency). I’ll report back if I make it there in the snow.

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 1:38pm

Looks like a bore with the same actors playing the same parts over and over again. When they announced the show I guessed who would be who. Nothing and no one else could top the movie. 

Updated On: 1/28/22 at 01:38 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 1:47pm

On paper, it's a terrible script. Nothing like the movie. Even with A list talent, I don't see it being good.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 2:43pm

the casting is BEYOND boring

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 5:00pm

ACL2006 said: "On paper, it's a terrible script. Nothing like the movie. Even with A list talent, I don't see it being good."

Do you mind going into detail about some of the differences? Clue is one of my favorite movies and I’ve always thought the screenplay would easily translate to the stage. It’s so stagey already.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/28/22 at 6:07pm

NOWaWarning said: "ACL2006 said: "On paper, it's a terrible script. Nothing like the movie. Even with A list talent, I don't see it being good."

Do you mind going into detail about some of the differences? Clue is one of my favorite movies and I’ve always thought the screenplay would easily translate to the stage. It’s so stagey already."

 

The stage version's script is nothing similar to the movie's screenplay. Essentially everything takes place in one room. There's no creativity in terms of set and none of the jokes work on stage.

 

Here's Papermill's preview. Judge for yourself.

 

 

[mattyp4]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 9:24am

Is this the same Clue that premiered at the Bucks County Playhouse a few years back? If so I saw it. I wouldn't call myself a fan of the movie but I got tickets b/c my boyfriend is a huge fan. He seemed to enjoy it. I thought it worked well enough on stage but I don't have any strong connection to the source material. The humor just isn't my cup of tea. 

https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2017/05/10/review-clue-stage-bucks-county-playhouse/

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Whodunit-First-Look-at-CLUE-ON-STAGE-at-Bucks-County-Playhouse-20170505

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 10:41am

If it is same play that I saw several years ago at the Cape Playhouse, don't waste your time or money.  It was thoroughly mediocre.  As I recall -- and I may be wrong here -- it was also very short.  IMO not worth the travel time, let alone the cost of a ticket.  Real Summer Stock stuff, and not even good Summer Stock.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 11:10am

Papermill cancelled the matinee today and the evening show is TBD (Will know after 3pm)

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 3:03pm

Evening show was cancelled too

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 4:10pm

what is the actual run time, the site says 90 but I heard its closer to an hour?

[pmensky]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 7:31pm

Jarethan said: "If it is same play that I saw several years ago at the Cape Playhouse, don't waste your time or money. It was thoroughly mediocre. As I recall -- and I may be wrong here -- it was also very short. IMO not worth the travel time, let alone the cost of a ticket. Real Summer Stock stuff, and not even good Summer Stock."

Since it is the first major theatre to produce it, Papermill may have a financial stake in future productions. A theatre like theirs legitimizes the property and may attract the attention of theatres of all sizes around the country. This may be a contributing factor to why they’re producing it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/29/22 at 7:40pm

In terms of "new" material from PaperMill, they've put out some flops lately. The Sting, The Honeymooners, Chasing Rainbows, Unmasked, Benny & Joon, Half Time.... Even with The Bronx Tale, Honeymoon in Vegas & Bandstand reaching Broadway, none of them were successful. They seem to have another flop with CLUE.

[pmensky]

Posted: 1/30/22 at 3:33am

ACL2006 said: "In terms of "new" material from PaperMill, they've put out some flops lately. The Sting, The Honeymooners, Chasing Rainbows, Unmasked, Benny & Joon, Half Time.... Even with The Bronx Tale, Honeymoon in Vegas & Bandstand reaching Broadway, none of them were successful. They seem to have another flop with CLUE."

True, but every time some community theatre actor from Peoria croaks our Santa Fe from Newsies they make a buck, and if Clue starts generating cash every year around Halloween from dinner theatres in Tulsa and Little Rock, it might be worth it for them to produce, especially if they have a healthy, built in subscription base.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/30/22 at 5:42am

ACL2006 said: "In terms of "new" material from PaperMill, they've put out some flops lately. The Sting, The Honeymooners, Chasing Rainbows, Unmasked, Benny & Joon, Half Time.... Even with The Bronx Tale, Honeymoon in Vegas & Bandstand reaching Broadway, none of them were successful. They seem to have another flop with CLUE."

A BRONX TALE ran over 700 performances, putting it not far behind NEWSIES in terms of longevity on Broadway, and also just about recouped it’s investment when it closed. Calling it “not successful” is disingenuous at best.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/theater/a-bronx-tale-is-closing-on-broadway.amp.html

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/30/22 at 11:14am

I agree, what a weird statement from ACL who I believes works in the entertainment industry and should probably know these things. 

The stage production of Clue sucks. It's just a bad show and this version with a snooze fest of a cast seems no different. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/30/22 at 8:25pm

This has been a very "why?" project to me from the start. Even if they had tried to make it a musical I probably would have questioned it, but making it a straight play just feels pointless. Nothing new is being brought to the material to elevate it (based on the video preview it's going into an even cornier, slapstick style), and you just seem to end up with actors doing pale imitations of the movie cast. For example, Donna English did some great impersonations for Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back back in the 90s, but she's no Madeline Kahn, and neither is anyone else.

[Salina James]

Posted: 1/31/22 at 12:58am

Was it Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife? Or Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench? Based on the cult 1985 Paramount movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro game, this farce-meetsmurder- mystery is bloody good fun. murder and blackmail are back on the menu when six mysterious guests assemble for a dinner party at Boddy Manor. Directed by Casey Hushion.

[DCDrama2]

Posted: 2/12/22 at 8:50am

Has anyone actually seen this yet? How was it? I'm very curious.

[quizking101]

Posted: 2/13/22 at 6:48am

So, I saw it on Friday night finally.

It was fine. It was almost to the line the movie as played out MUCH broader on stage. Definitely nothing groundbreaking or worth calling your mother about, but if you have a free evening and pick up a cheap seat, grab dinner, and go divert yourself for 80 minutes.

Its not meant to be high theatre - it’s meant to be dumb fun based on a cult film (and board game) and that’s exactly what I got.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/15/22 at 11:26am

Jesus. where do I even start with this one? As someone who thinks the 1985 film is one of the greatest films ever made, I was quite excited for this. The show starts with the original opening music of the film which a real thrill to hear. Then the show started and it all went downhill.
 

This is, I’d say 80% film script, maybe a tad less. That’s the shows blessing and also it’s curse because when they veer off into original text there’s no point to it other than to “Theater it up” for broader humor and lines and jokes the authors think work better than what people want to see. I understand things can’t be done in this that were done in the film for financial reasons (it’s a very cheap looking show) and that’s reflected in the 72 minute run time. Obviously the film takes place all over the mansion and running around but here we basically get the entrance way and a few flat backgrounds that float up and down and some sets coming out from the sides to represent rooms. But my point is that the added text is obviously there as filler for the time since so much can’t be translated to stage. (So why do it, at all?)

The cast is also uniformly pretty bad, except I didn’t mind Alex Mandell as Mr. Green, for the most part. Some are decent enough and serve their purpose of being a character and others like Fitzgerald’s Mrs. Peacock are so wildly different than the film (and the only one to go that route) that it’s distracting and confusing whenever she speaks or even moves.
 

Again, we’re given the film on stage and that means we know these lines and how they’re “supposed” to be said and having all actors all the time do any and everything they can to put their own spin on it and ham it up as much as possible is insane. The film is a comedy yes but it’s not a farce played with a wink the audience after every line which is pretty much what’s done here - A scene looking for clues where there is an enormous poster with everyone’s faces and the word “EVIDENCE” on it that they don’t see and complain how they can’t find evidence is an example of this.

It’s only playing for another week but if you get the urge to travel out to see it, just watch the movie.

Zero out of five stars.

Updated On: 2/15/22 at 11:26 AM

[melora]

Posted: 2/15/22 at 12:06pm

As a fan and supporter of the Paper Mill it pains me to agree with every word of Jordan's review.  My husband commented that it wasn't a total loss because at least we'd had a nice dinner beforehand in Millburn.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/15/22 at 3:44pm

You’re lucky - I didn’t even get that nice dinner.