Laughs, lies and murder on ACT stage with 'Clue'

Oct. 18—With Halloween right around the corner, there's perhaps no better time to become engrossed in a murder mystery, and the Artistic Civic Theatre is obliging with a production of "Clue" that opens Friday.

"It's really good timing," said Mac McLawhorn, who plays Col. Mustard. This play "has that Halloween feel, but it's also hilarious, so people can come in and laugh."

"People need (something like this), particularly at this time of year," said Shane Floyd, who plays Wadsworth, the butler. "It's really well-written."

"Clue" is a "hilarious murder-mystery parody" that "makes fun of some of the tropes but plays into others," said Carter Harbin, who plays Mr. Green. "There's some really clever dialogue that even went over our heads the first time we read through it."

The "cult classic" 1985 film "Clue," a takeoff on the classic board game, is "an absolute favorite of mine," and this particular stage adaptation has only been available for a few years, said Courtenay Cholovich, the play's director. When the Artistic Civic Theatre board asked her to direct a show this season, she didn't hesitate to suggest "Clue."

"There are a lot of not-good stage versions out there, but this is not one of those," said Jennifer Phinney, who plays Miss Scarlet. "This is very solid, and there's a lot in it from the movie's screenplay."

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Oct. 28-30, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday. More information on tickets, including purchasing them, can be found online at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=130779.

Audiences can expect several flourishes with this show, including use of "a brand-new projector, lots of movement of set pieces on stage — for the majority of the play, there are no fewer than seven people on stage, (so there's) a flurry of activity — and a more immersive experience," said Cholovich, the drama director and theater arts teacher at Hammond Creek Middle School. Those in attendance "are not just an audience, (but) are invited to the dinner party themselves."

The production isn't confined to the Mashburn Stage, either, as "the whole building will be Boddy Manor," she said. "Audiences will enter through one of three different entrances led by 'servants' to set the stage."

Because "Clue" is so popular, Cholovich is balancing fan service with "accessibility" for those unfamiliar with the material, she said. "There's more than enough for people to enjoy" if they're already "Clue" devotees, but "it can't be all in-jokes, and I think it's (balanced)."

"Clue" is "probably my favorite movie of all time," so to play a role in the stage adaptation is a dream for Heather Burton, who portrays Mrs. White. "My friends and I would watch it over and over, and we knew all the lines."

"Clue" is in Phinney's movie top five, and she went to see it in theaters numerous times with her friends when it was released, she said. "Fans of the movie, there are lines they want to hear, and they'll hear them in this" play.

McLawhorn also "loved the movie," and his favorite character is the colonel he's playing, he said. "He's hilarious and the most like me."

He's well acquainted with the Artistic Civic Theatre, too, as his wife, Mary, is a major part of it, including directing several shows for children, and he's often been "on the tech side," he said. "I think this is the first show in the last seven (for which) I haven't done the lighting."

Mrs. White "is complicated, and she has a past," said Burton, who has been acting at the Artistic Civic Theatre since it was founded three decades ago by her parents. "She's perhaps done some illegal things, but she's fun to play."

Mrs. Peacock is "a slightly hysterical woman, but everyone gets their moment of comedy and absurdity," said Lori McDaniel, who plays Mrs. Peacock. "There's not a bad role in this play."

"We're all game pieces," Phinney said. Her character is "smart, snarky, streetwise, and a keeper of secrets."

All "the characters have a distinct voice and mingle really well," Harbin said. Mr. Green, for example, "is very neurotic and nervous, and he's a rule-follower, so the events in the play are very disturbing to him."

He's from "Washington, D.C., and he's involved in politics, so he has secrets he'd like to keep under wraps," Harbin added. "He's also a bit of a klutz, so I've had to (figure out) how to fall convincingly but avoid injury."

The Women's Enrichment Center, which provides women, men and families with the emotional help and practical resources needed to care for themselves during and after pregnancy, is the Collection Connection Partner for this production. Cash donations can be made through the center's website at www.wecnorthga.org, but theatergoers are also invited to bring donations of everything from diapers, wipes, soaps, shampoo, baby powder and baby bottles to pacifiers, sanitary napkins, new or very gently worn baby clothes and soft baby blankets to the theater on performance nights.

Harbin appreciates the opportunity to be back on stage after COVID-19 curtailed live theater for a time.

"It's an opportunity to scratch that powerful itch for theater, and it's very gratifying," he said. "Once you do it and hear an audience react, it's infectious."

McDaniel drifted away from acting over the years to direct youth productions, but she couldn't pass on auditioning for "Clue" when she learned it was being directed by Cholovich, she said.

"I'm a fan of Courtenay's — she's such a good and creative director — and I thought this (play) would be fun."

Sanford Knox Jr. hasn't been on the Artistic Civic Theatre stage in a dozen years — nor any stage, for that matter, in six years — but he jumped at the opportunity to play Professor Plum.

"It's one of my favorite movies — my mom showed it to me, first, and I rented it (countless) times — (so) I have good memories, and I like that I get to make (Plum) his own character," he said. "He's cocky and full of himself, but still likable, not a jerk."

Floyd was an Artistic Civic Theatre regular in its early days, but when the Dalton Public Schools graduate moved to teach in Hamilton County, Tennessee, and Catoosa County, he drifted away, although Phinney and her husband, Wes, the drama director at Dalton High School, often asked him to return.

"('Clue') was the right one" for his comeback, he said. "I really like the play, and there were a couple of roles I" was willing to do, including Wadsworth.

"It's a big bite, and it's hard, but it's fun," he said. "Wadsworth has a lot of talents most butlers don't, and he wears many hats."

In this production, "all the actors are really good, and everyone is skilled," Jennifer Phinney said. "There's nothing not-funny about this play."