The same sound of claves that introduce Chicago’s famous “Cell Block Tango” pierce the air, which is thick with mystery and anticipation. After shedding much of their clothes, six dinner guests strut across the stage, dragging chairs with them—props for the “Pool Boy Tango” in the burlesque parody ClueX, running at Notoriety through April 25.
“He had it coming,” they sing of the pool maintenance boy, who is found murdered at the manor in a story loosely based on the 1985 film Clue. Now, was it Miss Cherry with the revolver? Or Col. Mushroom with the rope? Or Mrs. Woodpecker with the candlestick?
The answer is revealed through comedy, song and dance—and the audience submitting their accusations on which suspect they think did it. Even the actors don't know who the murderer will be until the votes are cast.
“Secretly, everybody wants to be the murderer because it’s fun. You get to take over, and the show is all about you at the end,” says creator and co-producer Simone Skold, who goes by “Simone.”
Whoever it is, you can bet their costume is killer, too, thanks to co-producer and costume, hair and wig designer Jason Bennett.
“So much more than in regular shows or straight theater, burlesque costumes themselves are a silent character,” Simone says. “It’s another part. The way we interact with it, take it off and peel out of it. And the wigs, of course. …The silent characters he’s brought to the table are so big, and part of the show.”
The costumes mark just one upgrade the production has had since it first premiered at Vegas Theatre Company in 2024. It now moves to a bigger stage at Notoriety, which offers more bells and whistles in terms of set design, effects and acoustics.
In this residency, Simone also plays Mr. Grass, a politician with a drug habit who loves to party. Jackie Lakoudis plays Ivet—that’s Ivet with an “I”—a sassy, Latina version of the film’s French maid. Ali Vesey plays a tantalizing Miss Cherry. Jaymes Mansfield slays as Col. Mushroom. Brandi Glass embodies a coy Mrs. Woodpecker. And Keaton Johns, Luke Phillips, James MacLeod and Tia Bean round out an all-around stellar cast.
“Burlesque is really the artform through which we are telling the story. …There’s this undressing happening for everybody in the show. We’re getting to know more about their dirty deeds, and it’s coming to reckon with them. Burlesque pairs really well with that,” Simone says.
Live music adds a richness and electricity to the show. Miss Cherry locks eyes with you and crawls to the edge of the stage as a live singer chants the lyrics to the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself.” An electric guitar from Kaleo’s “No Good” drives the action as Mr. Grass snorts lines of “coke” off of the audience’s cabaret tables.
All in all, ClueX is an escape into a curious world where not all is as it appears, the macabre can be funny, and striptease is a plot device. And that’s needed in the current political atmosphere, Simone says.
“The show is obviously satirical and pointed, and has a point of view,” he says. “…To be together in a room and acknowledge it through laughter and jokes, I do believe, is a bit healing. It allows us to laugh away some of the stress.”
CLUEX Through April 25, Friday-Sunday, 7:30 p.m., $20-$140. Notoriety, cluextheshow.com.
