When a cop shows up at the mansion in “Clue: Live on Stage!,” which opened at the Fox Theatre Tuesday and runs through Sunday, the charismatic butler Wadsworth goes to madcap lengths to steer the officer away from the study and the lounge where there are three dead bodies. Wadsworth gives the cop a frantic tour, which devolves into a hysterical performance. He sprawls himself out on the ground, making snow angels to demonstrate the mahogany floors, and wildly thrusts his crotch toward the audience to mimic paddling a canoe.
“Can you, canoe?” he sings breathlessly.
When his diversions only increase the officer’s suspicion, the cop demands to see the closed rooms off the foyer. To Wadsworth’s delight and surprise, the cast of characters has already devised a plan to stage the bodies to appear alive. Mrs. White pretends to be lost in lustful passion with the dead Mr. Boddy draped on top of her on the sofa. Colonel Mustard pretends to make out with the dead cook who is being puppeteered by Mrs. Peacock hiding behind a set of curtains. A liquor bottle is propped in the hand of the dead motorist, who appears, pun intended, “dead drunk.”
The scene elicited howls of laughter from Tuesday’s opening night crowd, many of whom were clearly cult followers of the 1985 film “Clue” and knew lines before they were even delivered. The crowd’s laughter echoed like a 1950s sitcom laugh track.
Credit: Evan Zimmerman
Credit: Evan Zimmerman
For the uninitiated, the farcical plot centers on a dinner party of characters being blackmailed by the mansion’s proprietor. Murders ensue. Was it Mrs. Peacock with the knife? Or Mr. Green with the lead pipe?
Actor James Taylor Odom, a Lawrenceville native, said the scene with the dead bodies is his favorite to perform when he gets to play Wadsworth. Odom is a swing character, meaning he can play one of five parts whenever a fellow actor needs a night off. With six days of shows a week (some days boasting multiple performances), in 16 cities across the nation in 2025, there are plenty of opportunities for Odom to take the stage in any of his roles. Playing Wadsworth has always been his favorite, even as a young child.
When he was 6, Odom started reenacting scenes from the film, which he watched countless times on Comedy Central and forced his family to rent with annoying frequency. Tim Curry, who played Wadsworth with comic precision in the film, was one of Odom’s idols.
Credit: Zack Odom
Credit: Zack Odom
“I was captivated, mesmerized by the theatricality … there was so much panache in his [Curry’s] performance,” Odom remembers.
As a child, Odom would use the stairs as a stage, flail wildly around the living room and throw open doors to mimic Wadsworth for his family. He was so obsessed with Clue that, every year for Christmas, Santa would leave him a new Clue board game wrapped under the tree.
Years later, in 2016, when Odom was fresh out of graduate school working at a regional theater, he saw an article in Variety magazine saying Clue was being adapted for the stage. His target was set.
He didn’t land an audition the first time. Then, the national tour got stalled for a script rewrite. In 2019, the tour held auditions again. Odom tried out, but was not cast. Then the tour stalled again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, he was cast as Wadsworth in a regional production of the show on Long Island, but still longed for a spot on the national tour. When auditions opened once again, he missed them due to a scheduling conflict. His dream seemed just about crushed.
Then, in a moment Odom describes as “kismet,” he randomly spotted “Clue’s” national tour director while he was out to lunch in a small town in Arkansas while performing at a regional theater. He recognized her from his previous audition.
“I thought, how is it possible that the director is sitting on the street of this small town so far away from New York City?” he said. It felt fated.
Odom introduced himself and eventually was cast as a swing character. He has been on tour with the show since it opened in Minneapolis last February. Now, a year later, on Saturday, Odom will get to play Wadsworth in his hometown’s grand theater, the one his father used to take him to growing up, the Fox. Members of his family will attend.
The show, which is a rapid romp full of screwball one-liners and over-the-top antics, is set in the era of Red Scare McCarthyism. The themes of political paranoia, blackmail and, in today’s vernacular, “cancel culture,” still resonate. Mainly though, “Clue” is a downright hoot.
“It is 90 minutes filled with brilliant comedians doing a high stakes game on stage,” Odom said. “There is so much physical comedy and witty dialogue. It’ll be a great night out.”
If you go
“Clue: Live on Stage!”
Through Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Fox Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $29.50. 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 855-285-8499, foxtheatre.org
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