The Hasbro board game Clue rose to popularity back in the ‘40s, inspired a movie in 1985 and is touring across America in 2025. The story of six guests assembling for dinner at Boddy Manor to eventually solve a mystery about a dead victim continues to captivate audiences.
Out and proud actor Jonathan Spivey plays Professor Plum in the current touring edition. He brings a Broadway background after appearing in The Front Page and Act One. Off-Broadway credits include Summer & Smoke, Morning’s at Seven and Smart Blonde.
On television he appeared on The Gilded Age, Blue Bloods and The Blacklist.
Windy City Times: Hi Jonathan, When did you arrive in Chicago?
Jonathan Spivey: We flew in on Monday and did our first show last night. We were in Tulsa last week. This is actually my last week and a half of the tour. My year is up and my last show is on Feb. 28th.
WCT: Does the replacement come in and learn from you before you leave?
JS: Yes, they come in a couple of weeks before they officially take over. Interestingly, the guy that they had hired to replace me booked something else. Now there is a second replacement who just started his first rehearsal today.
They watch us do the show then work with a stage manager during the day to get down the blocking, just like any understudy would, they will do a final run of the show in front of the regulars in costume on the set. It’s the final step in the process for being ready to perform in front of an audience.
WCT: I love a good behind-the-scenes story. Where did you grow up?
JS: I grew up in a really tiny town called Windsor, Virginia, with about 3,000 people. My grandparents were farmers and both of my parents were first-generation college graduates.
It was not an environment where a kid grows up thinking, “I can be a professional actor.” That being said, I somehow won the lottery with my folks because they were both incredibly supportive of a gay son who wanted to be in theater.
WCT: Did you play musical instruments?
JS: I have played piano since I was a kid and I thought I was going to be a music major and then ended up falling into theater more than music.
WCT: Is Clue a musical?
JS: No, we are not singing, but there is a dance sequence halfway through. The whole show is highly choreographed.
WCT: Who’s the queerest of the queer in Clue?
JS: I gotta say, Mrs. Peacock! I was daydreaming about this earlier this week. I think we need an all-drag production of Clue. it must have happened somewhere, maybe in someone’s living room. A gender-bending Clue would run forever. Folks ask me what other character I would like to play and even though I don’t do drag, I always say, “Mrs. Peacock.”
WCT: Is the stage version similar to the movie?
JSL: The movie is a classic, but very dry. Our stage version is much broader and wackier.
WCT: Is the production like Noises Off?
JSL: It doesn’t take place backstage, but yes, there are antics and pratfalls. I would say it’s a marriage of Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong. It has the same heightened style of camp but with a murder mystery element.
The mystery is an active part of the show. The audience is always trying to find out who the killer is and that is part of the experience.
WCT: Does the ending change every show?
JSL: It always ends the same way, but people who love the movie know that there were multiple endings when it came out in theaters and on VHS.
I don’t want to give away too many secrets, but I will say, if you like that the movie had multiple endings, you will like the way our play ends.
WCT: I saw Clue in the movie theater and it was gimmicky with multiple endings labeled outside on the marquee with A, B, C or D. It made people go to each one.
JS: That’s kind of genius. We wouldn’t do that for the stage because most people wouldn’t be able to see it four different times during the run.
WCT: How would you describe your character Professor Plum?
JS: Plum is kind of a creeper. In more progressive cities like Chicago, audiences look at the acting while in more conservative cities they tend to think the character is hilarious.
WCT: What are your plans after Clue?
JS: I’m going back to where I received my undergraduate degree at the University of Richmond in Virginia. A former professor there asked me to come perform as a guest artist with the students. It’s going to be a full-circle moment and incredibly rewarding.
WCT: I read on your resume that you were in the movie A Complete Unknown.
JS: Yes, but if you blink you might miss me. It was a big group scene at a party where Timothee Chalamet and Ed Norton sang a song together. It was a 12-hour shoot over the course of two days. I have done plenty of television, but I have never been in a scene where people are singing. They were playing the track over and over while about 50 background actors were chain smoking because it was set in the ‘60s. I’m an ex-smoker, so maybe that’s why it really hit me like a ton of bricks. It was a small part but a great experience!
Catch Clue at the CIBC, 18 W. Monroe St, playing now through March 2. Find out whodunnit by purchasing a ticket at BroadwayinChicago.com.