“Clue: On stage”
January 27th – February 1st
national theater
1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
thenationaldc.com
Actor Thomas Netter has been touring with “Crew” since opening in Rochester, New York in late October, and is soon settling into a weeklong run at D.C.’s National Theater.
Adapted by Sandy Rustin from the campy 1985 cult film of the same name, inspired by the popular board game, Clue brings all the murder mystery mayhem to the stage.
It’s 1954, during the height of the Red Scare, and six suspicious characters are summoned to an isolated mansion by a blackmailer named Mr. Boddy, where things quickly go from bad to worse. A fast-paced homage to the parlor mystery novel genre with plenty of wordplay, slapstick, and farce, Clue gives comedy actors plenty to work with and plenty of laughs for its audience.
When Netter tells friends he’s touring with “Clue,” they always ask, “Who are you playing with? When can we see you in it?” His reply is not simple.
The New York-based actor explains, “In this production, I’m a trapeze. I don’t know who I’m going to play or when I’m going to be cast. At almost any time, I could be asked to play another role. I have five roles and I play almost all the men in this production.”
Unlike understudies, who typically learn one principal or supporting role and perform with an ensemble each night, swingers learn any number of parts and wait quietly offstage during each performance, just in case.
With 80 minutes of uninterrupted, truncated talk, “Clue” can be tough on swings. Still, the 28-year-old Netter added, “I love it and I’m working with a great cast. There’s not the same dynamic here as there was in All About Eve.”
washington blade: Learning multiple tracks can be scary.
Thomas Netter: There was definitely a learning curve for me. Although I had studied musical roles, I had never performed the five main parts of a play, and the sheer amount of memorization was daunting.
As soon as I received the script, I started memorizing the lines one by one. I turned the living room into a study and hallway of the mansion, stood up as much as I could, and began to incorporate the parts into my body.
blade: Were you often asked to perform during the tour?
Netter: Fortunately, everyone is healthy. But I got called up in Pittsburgh, where I played Wadsworth the butler, and the next day I played a police officer who talks to the character I played the day before.
blade: Are you afraid of getting that call?
Netter: I wouldn’t say it’s scary, but there’s a bit of stage fright involved. My goal since joining the company was to follow in its footsteps. After I finished my homework and was relieved of my stress, I was able to go out and play and have fun. After all, I love acting.
Clue, for me, is an opportunity to live inside the heads of five very different archetypal characters. As an actor, that part is very exciting. In this comedy, depending on the role, some nights you get killed and other nights you get killed.
blade: Aside from the occasional nervousness, do you want to swing again?
Netter: So yeah, I feel like I’m living out a once-gay boy’s dream. I travel to get beats from different communities. If there’s a gay bar, I stop by and meet some interesting and cool people.
blade: As for that little gay boy, what drew him to theater?
netter: Grandma and Mom were big fans of movie musicals, with shows like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “See You in St. Louis.” I remember my grandma dancing “Shall We Dance?” around the house. From “The King and I” She put me in tap class when I was four years old.
blade: What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Netter: Studying the Meisner technique for two years at Neighborhood Playhouse in New York was definitely a highlight. Favorite parts include the D’Ysquith family [all eight murder victims] In A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, she played the monstrous Miss Trunchbull in Matilda.
blade: And are you looking forward to it?
Netter: I would really love the opportunity to play Finch or Rump in Frank Loesser’s musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
blade: Meanwhile, Netter can be found backstage at the National Stadium, waiting to hear the exhilarating words: “You’re in!”
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
