From BLACK SWAMP PLAYERS
The Black Swamp Players will open its fifty-first season with Clue: The Musical, which takes the stage beginning this Friday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Based on the 1949 board game of the same name, Clue: The Musical concerns the murder of Mr. Boddy (Heath A. Diehl), who also serves as the host of the evening’s performance. The first act of the musical introduces the colorful characters made famous by Parker Brothers and their motives for possibly murdering Mr. Boddy. There also is an interactive component in which audience members randomly select cards that will determine which suspect committed the murder, which weapon was used, and where the murder took place. The show has 216 possible endings. The second act introduces a new character, the Detective (Mac Ramsey), who along with the cast and audience, work to solve the murder of Mr. Boddy.
In addition to Diehl and Ramsey, the cast also includes: Andrew Varney (Colonel Mustard); Garrett Hummell (Mr. Green); Karla Richardson (Mrs. Peacock); Matt Crawford (Professor Plum); Annelise Mason (Miss Scarlet); and Monica Hiris (Mrs. White). The production is directed by Melissa Shaffer and Anna Chowattanakul is the music director and accompanist.
Clue: The Musical briefly ran Off-Broadway in 1997 and has since been a popular choice for community theater groups throughout the country. A contributor to Broadway World dubbed it “an entertaining, humorous, and interactive musical that is not to be missed.”
Clue: The Musical will open on Friday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m. Additional performance dates include: Saturday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m. ; Friday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. ; Saturday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m. ; Sunday, November 11 and 18 at 2 p.m. Both Saturday evening performances will be preceded by a dinner, beginning at 6 p.m. , that will benefit the First United Methodist Church. All performances will be held at the First United Methodist Church on East Wooster Street in Bowling Green.
Tickets for the Friday and Sunday performances are $15/adults, $12/seniors and students. Tickets for the Saturday “Dinner and a Show” performances are $25/person and must be purchased one week or more prior to the show. All tickets can be purchased on the organization’s website.
The Dinner and a Show performances, which are co-hosted by the First United Methodist Church, will feature either meatloaf or a vegetarian quiche and will also include potatoes, vegetables, applesauce, bread, and various desserts.
Clue: The Musical is the first of three productions to be mounted by The Black Swamp Players for its 2018-2019 season. Clue will be followed by a production of Meredith Wilson’s 1957 Tony-Award-winning musical, The Music Man, which will be performed at the First United Methodist Church in February 2019. The Players will close their 51st season with the world premiere of an original play by local F. Scott Regan, titled Peanuts and Crackerjacks. Regan’s play will be performed in April/May 2019.
Black Swamp Players is nonprofit corporation that exists to provide opportunities for area residents to experience quality, amateur, live theatre in all its many aspects. Founded in 1968, Black Swamp Players has been providing community theatre to the Bowling Green and surrounding areas for the past fifty years. Those interested in volunteering for the organization should send an e-mail query to president@blackswampplayers.org.
