Productions
The musical premiered at the New Boston Street Dinner Theatre inPlot
Act I
Mr. Boddy acts as host as he invites the audience to play "The Game" while introducing each of the other characters. He then brings three audience members onstage to choose one card each from one of three stacks, representing six suspects, six rooms, and six weapons. These selected cards, unseen by the selectors, cast, or the audience, are placed in an oversized envelope marked "Confidential", which is displayed on stage for the duration of the musical and opened to reveal the cards near the end. Mr. Boddy instructs the audience on how to play along. Between scenes throughout the musical, Mr. Boddy gives rhyming clues, which provide the audience with information they may jot down on a form supplied to them and use to solve the mystery. In the kitchen, Mrs. White prepares dinner and argues with Mr. Boddy over her forced servitude to pay debts because he once helped her son. She laments "Life Is a Bowl of Pits". In the billiard room, Mr. Boddy's business partner, Mr. Green, clashes with him over missing funds. In the ballroom, Col. Mustard and Mrs. Peacock engage in an affair, but are caught by Mr. Boddy. Over drinks in the lounge, Miss Scarlet and Mr. Green are revealed to have been business partners of Mr. Boddy's and former lovers, and that Mr. Boddy double-crossed them both and unceremoniously dumped Miss Scarlet. They muse revenge and that "Everyday Devices" such as a wrench and lead pipe are dangerous when used for the wrong reasons. In the study, Prof. Plum recounts how Mr. Boddy ruined his family fortune to Mrs. White while she tries to unsuccessfully flirt with him. In the conservatory, Mrs. Peacock plans to add Mr. Boddy to her growing list of dead husbands ("Once a Widow"). After dinner, Mr. Boddy invites his guests and staff to fulfill their destiny — murdering him. They search through "Corridor and Halls" for the right combination of suspect, room and weapon. Mr. Boddy is soon found dead ("The Murder"), the cause of which is unknown ("After the Murder").Act II
Mr. Boddy miraculously revives to introduce a new character, a hard-nosed, attractive Detective. As she searches the mansion for clues, the suspects nervously speculate "She Hasn't Got a Clue". She returns with six possible weapons – a wrench, candlestick, lead pipe, knife, revolver and rope – found in six rooms: the lounge, kitchen, ballroom, conservatory, billiard room, and study. All of these have the suspects' fingerprints on them, which were made between 9:00 PM and midnight, the latter of which is the time of Boddy's murder. After the suspects tell her how they used the "Everyday Devices", the Detective questions Prof. Plum, who tries to seduce her ("Seduction Deduction"). After his attempts fail, she in turn interrogates Col Mustard, Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, and Mrs. White, as each speculates that she is a "Foul-Weather Friend". As the Detective prepares to make her accusation, the Suspects cry "Don't Blame Me" and panic at "The Final Clue". She reveals the random killer, location, and weapon as per the three cards drawn earlier, and the killer confesses. Then, it is revealed that the previously stated murderer was only an accomplice, and that the true murderer is Professor Plum. He is then revealed to be a disguised "dorky school teacher", as the true Plum is disguised as a piano player in the orchestra. The suspects ponder life beyond the mansion, but are compelled by Mr. Boddy to repeat their fate and continue playing "The Game".Characters
* Mr. Boddy – the charismatic host of the game, husband of Mrs. Peacock, and victim of the murder. * Detective – the clumsy detective who arrives to solve the mystery. * Colonel Mustard – he fancies himself a triumphant war colonel and is having an affair with Mrs. Peacock. He is implicated in the death of Mr. Boddy's parents and was married to Mr. Boddy's mother after the death of her husband. * Mr. Green – a con artist and entrepreneur, he is a former lover of Miss Scarlet's and business partner of Mr. Boddy. * Mrs. Peacock – a black widow, socialite, and chair of Peacock Enterprises married to Mr. Boddy and cheating with Col. Mustard. She is suspected in the murder of five previous husbands. * Professor Plum – a super genius, author, and imposter whose family fortune was ruined by Mr. Boddy. * Miss Scarlet – a former Las Vegas lounge performer and former lover of Mr. Green. * Mrs. White – a fun-loving chief domestic of Boddy Manor, played by a man in the tradition of English pantomime andMusic
;Act I * "Overture" – Orchestra * "The Game" – Mr. Boddy and Suspects * "Life is a Bowl of Pits" – Mrs. White * "Everyday Devices" – Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, and Suspects * "Once a Widow" – Mrs. Peacock * "Corridors and Halls" – Mr. Boddy and Suspects * "The Murder" – Mr. Boddy and Suspects * "After the Murder ("The Game" Reprise; "Act I Finale") – Suspects ;Act II * "She Hasn't Got a Clue" – Suspects * "Everyday Devices" (Reprise) – Suspects * "Seduction Deduction" – Prof. Plum and the Detective * "Foul-Weather Friend" – Suspects * "Don't Blame Me" – Company * "The Final Clue" – Mr. Boddy and Suspects * "The Game" (Finale) – Mr. Boddy and Suspects * "She Hasn't Got a Clue" (Reprise)/"Bows" – CompanyDifferences from the board game
The musical simplifies the setting by excluding only the hall, dining room and library. The role of Mr. Boddy is expanded, and much of the action centers on motive rather than exclusively who, how, and where the murder happened. A new character, the Detective, drives much of the action in the second half of the show. The characters, particularly Col. Mustard and Mr. Green, hew closer to the North American game versions of the characters rather than the British version. In one variation of the stage musical, the library and hall are not rooms in Boddy Manor.References
External links
* {{Cluedo Off-Broadway musicals 1997 musicals Cluedo Musicals set in country houses