On January 30, the Frederick High School performing arts department debuted Clue: On Stage, a theatre play based on the cult classic 1985 Paramount movie. The movie was inspired by the classic Hasbro board game. Clue is a hilarious comedy play that meets murder mystery and has two more performances: today (Friday, January 31) at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 1 at 12:00 p.m.
The cast of Clue: On Stage has an insane amount of talent that molded these well-known characters in an amazing way. The cast includes senior TJ Mogensen as Mr. Wadsworth, senior Kae Wagner as Miss Scarlett, senior Ellie Palmer as Mrs. White, junior May Leeper as Mrs. Peacock, Frank Nicks as Mr. Green, senior Teagan Viele as Colonel Mustard, and junior Liam Pettitt as Professor Plum.
“As Wadsworth [the main character], I have so, so much to do in this show,” T.J. Mogensen said. “It is unlike anything I’ve ever done before, and it is the biggest role that I’ve ever had to do. Learning lines—I have almost three hundred lines in the show and multiple monologues—was also a big challenge, and then also working on my British accent. Being able to swap between my accents, especially since I change into an American accent, was a really important skill to learn. And then just embodying every character because Wadsworth has to become every character in order to tell the story. So it’s just a lot of observing and a lot of practice.”
This play has such a small cast, and every single character in this cast has a decent amount of lines. So TJ Mogensen talking about this, and how he’d have to prepare could be helpful to people who might be interested in joining the FHS Theatre Department in the future.
Mae Leeper talked about how her character is unique in the adaptation of the movie Clue. “In this particular adaptation of Clue, what makes my character unique would probably be how out there she is. Like she’s old, but she’s also so birdlike.”
The only freshman in the show, Shelby Jones, talked about her connections in the cast and how she worked with them in the scenes. “Just practicing and getting to know them better really helped. You weren’t just getting close with a stranger; you were getting close with a friend.”
Kae Wagner said, “I’ve learned a lot of confidence in being out there more. It’s a really fun thing and big in theater.” Gaining confidence is a huge part of being on stage a majority of the time throughout the play. And having that confidence made her character the best version of herself.
The set had amazing touches and resembled the board game in so many ways. Mrs. Butterworth helped direct this cast throughout the show, creating a great amount of humor and comedy. Senior Brinley Weingardt, assistant director for this show, also helped, tweaking the show until it was perfect. Senior stage manager Mia Salas obviously had a huge impact on the show as well.
The audience at Thursday’s opening night performance loved it. Every time something funny happened, the audience broke out into laughter. When something surprising happened, immediately shocked gasps. Clapping lots, giving appreciation to the cast’s amazing talent.
This show stood out as a high school production because it overall had so many talented people working on it together. The cast displayed their amazing talent in acting, the tech creating an amazing set, lighting, helping with makeup, hair, costumes, and the directors pulling this whole show together. This show most definitely lived up to and beyond its expectations.
