Murder, mayhem and laughter will be afoot in the Brown County High School auditorium this weekend as the theater department welcomes audiences to their fall show, “Clue: On Stage (High School Edition)” — just in time for Halloween.
Theater teacher Daniel Lyng said that he wanted the first show back this school year to be “as joyous as possible.”
He also wanted audiences to connect to the familiar favorite, inspired by the classic board game and draw students in to maybe participate in future productions.
“That was a goal in picking this show, hopefully it’s going to be one people will want to come and see,” he said.
Lyng took over for “Doc” Laurie Godfrey this year after she retired as the longtime director. Lyng said he’s lucky to take over a “very, very strong” program that she has built.
“I’m lucky she and the students have given space to make it my own,” he said. He teaches two acting classes and two technical theater classes as well as directing productions.
As the new theater teacher, Lyng is making some changes.
For the first time, students must have lines memorized after they block a rehearsal. Before, they’d spent weeks rehearsing and memorizing, he said.
“They’re adjusting to a new way of rehearsing, less time with more focused energies on accomplishing certain things during those rehearsals,” Lyng said.
“I’m trying to give them a little preview into a professional rehearsal. I’m also trying to teach them it’s about how you work, not how long you work.”
A main goal is for students to be able to learn how to work hard without being “panic stressed,” Lyng said.
For the department as a whole, Lyng wants to see it grow beyond small confines and be open to all. There are about 40 students working in the department, whom Lyng instructs and coaches in the professional space he aims to curate.
“There are other students in the school who have no idea we even exist,” Lyng said. He hopes to bridge the gap between keeping dedicated students in the program and bringing in new faces.
Lyng said there are many reasons people should come catch the show this Halloween weekend.
“No. 1, you probably haven’t seen a live show in a really long time. Number two, everyone’s looking for something spooky to do the afternoon of Halloween. Number three, our cast and crew have been working ridiculously hard,” he said.
Student ownership in the production is high in this show with many students running the show, Lyng said.
“I’m their facilitator,” he said.
“And that’s exactly how it should be.”
‘Our Place’
Tech director Joey Denison is a junior at the high school.
“He teaches me everything I know,” Lyng said.
This is Denison’s first time in the role of tech director, but his third production with the department. He was lighting chief twice before.
It all started when he had a class to fill his sophomore year.
“I knew how much of a time sink theater was and basically got dragged into theater kicking and screaming,” he said. “The more I did it, the more I fell in love with the really good aspects of it. It does take up a lot of my time, but it’s time well spent.”
Denison has been planning, building and facilitating the set and finding materials. During tech week, he’ll figure out what needs to happen and when on the technical side, he said.
The time he spends in the department is preparing him for his future as he wants to explore a career in this field.
He said a lot of effort has gone into this fall production with the great cast and crew.
“It’s going to be an amazing production, it’s going to be really upbeat,” he said. “You’d have to travel to Broadway to see something this good. … You’re not going to get anything this good in Indiana. It’s one of a kind.”
Juniors Nick Jewell and Henry Webb have been working behind the scenes to make sure the show goes on too. Jewell is house manager and Webb is a backstage prop runner.
Webb said people should come out to see the show because it’s a classic.
“It’s ‘Clue,’ everybody loves ‘Clue,’” he said. “It’s just a classic in my opinion. It’s a funny and interesting show, full of plot twists. If you want to see anything, find out who gets murdered, come out and see it.”
Jewell said that though Broadway might have a bigger budget than a high school theater department, teens have the talent and capability to “get it done.”
Webb was a prop runner with “Crimes of the Heart” in the spring of 2021 after a friend encouraged him to do tech. With “Clue: On Stage (High School Edition),” Webb said one of the big things is set changes.
Jewell has been working in tech since Godfrey was at the helm of the department, building sets and more. Now he wants to find a career in this field some day.
“Tech theater’s just our place,” Webb said. Webb said that anyone in the school without a place or something to do should join tech theater or acting classes to “make something and show the world what they can do.”
“I enjoy school, but I go to school because of tech,” he said.
“I’ve found a reason to go to school and be happy and deal with the stress of school. The reason why I come and stress through school is so I can come to tech and de-stress. I enjoy it so much. It’s just that good. I have my people here.”
“We accept anybody,” Jewell said.
”A lot of thrills”
Aidan Lucas plays Wadsworth, the traditional British butler who is a “driving force of the play,” Lucas said.
Lucas, a senior, watched the movie with his theater class and thought Wadsworth would be a “very fun role.”
Lucas was part of the tech crew for “Lost in Yonkers,” worked on “Spoon River Anthology” in fall of 2020 and was the lawyer in “Crimes of the Heart” this past spring.
Lucas said “Clue: On Stage (High School Edition)” is one of the best plays in which he’s been involved.
The “silliness” of the production reflects a message of hope and moving forward during a pandemic, Lucas said.
It’s also just fun, he added.
“It’s super fun, super silly,” he said. “We’ve got a great cast who are friends with each other, building on this energy. It’s so much more fun.”
Sophomore Sawyer Gore plays Mr. Boddy. Gore said the character is conniving and deceitful, trying to manipulate the cast to turn on each other.
Gore has always liked the drama department, once playing Donkey in “Shrek: The Musical” in middle school. This year he was injured while playing football, so he decided to go out for “Clue: On Stage (High School Edition).”
Working things out in rehearsal as a team, Gore said they’re doing pretty well.
“If you like mysteries, you’ll definitely like (this show),” he said. “It’s really funny.”
Sophomore Lynsey Summers has two roles, playing the cook and filling in the understudy role for Col. Mustard.
Summers had always been interested in theater, working in tech before she said she “mustered up the courage” to audition for a role.
“I thought, ‘If I’m going to do it, it might as well be now,’” she said.
This is her first show. Thought it’s been a bit stressful learning two sets of lines for a major and minor character, Summers said she’s “stoked about this show.”
“It’s an entourage ensemble, it’s very eventful,” she said.
“There’s a lot of adrenaline, a lot of thrills. Everybody’s dying and you don’t know who’s going to be next. It keeps you on edge.”
What: Brown County High School theater production of the comedic drama, “Clue: On Stage (High School Edition)”
When: Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.
Where: Brown County High School, 235 Schoolhouse Lane
Tickets: $5 for students, $7 for adults at the door.
Audience members are welcome to dress up as their favorite “Clue” character and enter into a costume contest to win tickets to the spring musical “Mamma Mia!”
Wadsworth: Aidan Lucas
Understudy: Eli Clark
Yvette: Elle Rainwater
Understudy: Aubrey Harden
Miss Scarlet: Lilly Voils
Understudy: Elle Rainwater
Mrs. Peacock: Abby Williams
Understudy: Lillee Sheckles
Mrs. White: Maya Huber
Understudy: Sam Smith
Col. Mustard: Wesley Bethards
Understudy: Lynsey Summers
Professor Plum: CJ Cox
Understudy: Clare Endris
Mr. Green: Eli Clark
Understudy: Oliver Tedford
Boddy/Chief Of Police/The Motorist: Sawyer Gore
Understudy: Oliver Tedford
Cook: Lynsey Summers
Understudy: Aubrey Harden
Singing Telegram Girl/Auxiliary Scarlet/Backup Cop: Aubrey Harden
The Unexpected Cop/Backup Cop/Auxiliary Mustard: Oliver Tedford
