As the quiet theater filled with noise, the members of Kerr Cadre stayed hard at work. From Friday, October 17, to Saturday, October 25, Cadre performed Clue, its first show of the year. The stage play, “Clue,” is based on the 1985 movie of the same name.
The show follows six D.C. socialites after they were all invited to the mansion of a man named Mr. Boddy, who informs them that they are all victims of blackmail. When the light turns off, chaos ensues, and when they come back, the six socialites open their eyes to see the dead body of their host. With tensions high and more bodies appearing as the show goes on, they need to work with the living members of the staff to find the murderer.
“It’s the funniest show I’ve ever seen,” costume crew member sophomore Alli Carillo said.
“It’s funny seeing them interact with each other and put each other on such a high moral standing.” While the show itself was based on the movie, parts of the show, like the set, paid homage to its board game origins. “I’d say the set went very smoothly,” set crew member and actor playing the chief of police, sophomore Rebecca Gibby, said.
“We built a two-story set for only the second time ever, and the rooms pull out kind of like a board game.” But set wasn’t the only crew that made unique nods to the setting. “Since the show was set in a mansion, we thought it would be cool for the run crew to be in these nice little maid and butler outfits,” Carrillo said. “But it meant that I had to spend a lot of time just rounding up the run crew for measurements and stuff.”
While the crews worked behind the scenes, the actors brought the story to life on stage.
“I really liked playing Mrs. White because her character had so much drama in her,” opening weekend’s actor for Peacock, Sophomore Charlie Sholtis, said. “She seemed very dramatic when I auditioned for her, so I tried my best to play her with the drama I felt she needed.” The members of Cadre were still very passionate about the show, even when some parts had them especially exasperated. “I loved the work that went into this show,” Carillo said. “The lights, the actors, the sounds, and the set were so good, but these costumes were getting on my nerves.”
Some parts of the show left cadre members roaring with laughter. “There’s this one scene that always has Wadsworth’s actor laughing,” Sholtis said. “It’s where I just keep repeating What do you mean? Which one? Very dramatically.” Some other parts of the show had cadre members shocked.
“Honestly, the most shocking part of the plot for me was that all six of these people went to the house of the person blackmailing them,” Carrillo said. “They just didn’t bring anything or anyone to protect themselves with.” But the show’s theme remains clear. “Moral of the story: don’t be a bad person,” Sholtis said.
“Cause everyone was being blackmailed because they did something really bad. Except Mr. Green, who voted for the wrong person in, like, 900 BC.”
With new lessons learned, the show also marked some personal milestones for certain cast members.
“I liked being in the community of people who had one goal to make this so amazing,” Gibby said. “This is also my first mainstage show, so it’ll be the first time I’ve been on a really big stage in front of everybody since the 4th grade.” Overall, the show remained very memorable for the members of Cadre, especially the members moving on.
“One of the most memorable parts of the show for me was getting to know all the underclassmen,” stage manager and president of the Cadre senior Erica Carranza said. “I’m graduating soon and leaving Cadre behind, so it’s heartwarming to see that these are the people I’m leaving the club behind with.” After months of hard work, seeing everything come together on stage made the experience even more meaningful.
“It was literally so funny, and all the technical work that went into the show was so different from other shows,” Carranza said. “A lot of people watched Clue, the movie, the musical, and played the board game. So I’m glad people came to see our take on it.”
