‘Clue: On Stage’ Brings Whodunnit Fun to Arsht During Busy Art Week

Murder and blackmail are on the menu when six mysterious guests assemble at Boddy Manor in the whodunnit mystery “Clue” at the Adrienne Arsht Center as part of the Broadway in Miami series opening Tuesday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 7. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

For theater lovers looking for something to escape the crowd of Miami Art Week, the Broadway in Miami series at the Adrienne Arsht Center has the touring production of the whodunnit “Clue,” inspired by the classic Hasbro board game and the 1985 Paramount movie

And while the international set will be unraveling the mystery that is Art Basel, TJ Lamando who plays Mr. Green and is no stranger to South Florida theater having been a regular when the now-defunct Stage Door Theatre was performing in Lauderhill, says “Clue” at the Arsht Center is perfectly fitting.

“ ‘Clue’ is just unabashedly fun. It’s a show where you can unplug and have fun. And I think that’s what everyone will be craving.”

In the midst of Miami Art Week, there’s a mystery afoot at the Adrienne Arsht Center as  “Clue” makes its Miami premiere. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made)

Its been 76 years since the board game debuted in 1949. Who doesn’t remember trying to deduce if it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench? Or Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife?

Lamando plays one of the six suspects in “Clue,” State Department employee Mr. Green, despite revealing that when playing the board game as a kid he chose to be Colonel Mustard – “just because he looks so cool on the box.”

But Mr. Green isn’t the cool one in this show.

“He’s this sort of anxious, timid guy. Obviously, if you’re an anxious and timid person, being invited into the middle of a murder mystery is not gonna end well for you,” says Lamando on the telephone from a tour stop in Jacksonville.  “Mr. Green is also sort of the lightning rod for everybody else to rag on at some point during the show.

The actor, originally from outside of Salem, Mass., describes Mr. Green as a “fool.”

TJ Lamando as one of the six suspects in “Clue,” State Department employee Mr. Green. (photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

“I feel like with whenever you play the fool people are, there’s bound to be surprises. There’s always something new to find out about the character that everybody’s laughing at.”

The actor has some great memories performing in South Florida in the lead of Jimmy Winter in Stage Door Theatre company’s musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It in 2018 – “Michael Small is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever worked with” — and opposite Stage Door Theatre regular Ken Clement in its production of “The Producers” in 2019, both in Lauderhill.

“Clue” is one of the few non-musical plays on the Broadway Across America circuit, but Camille Capers who is playing Miss Scarlet in the current touring production that comes to the Arsht Center opening on Dec 2 and running through Dec. 7, says the show has a musical rhythm to it.

“It’s a comedy, it’s a farce, but there is a lot of musicality to it – the way we maneuver through scenes and we’re searching through the house, and it is set to music,” says Capers, who is a classically trained singer.

Lamando goes so far as to say “Clue” blends the worlds of farce with a musical undertone to form a unique stage hybrid.

“There are some orchestrations that are from the movie and it really adds to the pace of the show.”

Capers, a graduate of Howard University, and who studied abroad at the British American Drama Academy, booked her first regional job after graduating from college in 2020. “The pandemic was definitely a weird time to graduate,” she recalls.

TJ Lamando, left, and Camille Capers, star in the North American Tour of “Clue” coming to the Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 7. (Photos courtesy of Clue)

“Clue” is her first national tour.

She has some shoes to fill playing Miss Scarlet who actress Lesley Ann Warren made so memorable in the film, and the role that has made the 1985 “Clue” movie a cult classic. Capers says she’s looked out into the audience and have seen fans dressed as the character.

“I think in the play the character is very different than she is in the movie, but she still maintains her sarcasm and her one liners,” says the actress.

She mentions meeting with playwright Sandy Rustin, who adapted “Clue: On Stage” when the actress was rehearsing the play. “She told me to watch a lot of 1940s and 1950s  movies that have a bombshell, femme fatale type of character and pay attention to how they spoke, how they carried themselves, how they would stand and sit.”

Another dimension of her role is that Miss Scarlet in this production is played by an artist of color. “I think we are starting to see more and more diversity in productions of Clue.” Tiffany Denise Hobs played Miss Scarlet in the Kennedy Center’s 2024 production of “Clue,” for example.

Camille Capers as Miss Scarlet, front row left, and TJ Lamando as Mr. Green, second row right, in the North American tour of “Clue,” coming to the Adrienne Arsht Center from Dec. 2 through Dec. 7. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

“I love that I have an opportunity to play a role that doesn’t just limit me to my race. It allows me to play and do many different things. And of course, I do want to perform in the amazing roles written for African American women, but I think what’s fun about this one is they were casting based on type, and I get an opportunity to play this really fun character,” she says.

And she promises the audience will have fun, too. “If you’re a fan of the movie, there are so many nods to it in the play.”

Lamardo says it is human nature that everyone wants to be the one to figure out who is the guilty party. “People like to collect the clues and look at the popularity of the series, ‘Only Murders in the Building?” I think it’s a universal truth that everyone has – that they want to be ahead of the game in that way.”

Pun intended.

WHAT: “Clue”

WHEN: 8 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 2 through Saturday, Dec. 6. 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 and 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec 7.  The show has a running time of 80 minutes with no intermission. Special event 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 2, game night, a detective themed photo station and an improv workshop. Admission is free with a ticket to the evening’s performance.

WHERE:  Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

COST:  $47.97 to $176.67 (includes fees)

INFORMATION:  (305) 949-6722 and arshtcenter.org

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