On Oct. 24, St. Bonaventure University’s hip-hop team performed its sold-out fall show, Clue: Murder at Boddy’s Mansion.
After debating whether or not to do a Nightmare Before Christmas show, the captains ultimately decided on Clue after deciding Nightmare’s music would not work well.
The synopsis of the follows the murder of Mrs. Boddy at her house party, and an investigator, played by Ty Holmes, senior marketing major, tries to figure out who did it. The investigator knew that it was not strangulation or being shot that killed Mrs. Boddy, but rather she bled to death from being hit with a hard object.
Narrated by Ron Welch, a graduate student, the show followed the storyline with the classic board game, including nearly the same characters: Professor Plum, played by Peter Bertoldo, M.B.A. candidate; Mrs. White, played by Colleen Corrado, junior biology major; Miss Scarlet, played by Michelle Beckett-Ansa, senior biopsychology major; Mrs. Reverend Green, played by Sarah Koning, junior early childhood education major; Colonel Mustard, played by Brooke Astley, senior sociology and marketing major; Ms. Peacock, played by Katelynn Brown, graduate student in early childhood education; and the murdered Mrs. Boddy, played by Linda Herrick, M.B.A. candidate.
The investigator introduced each character and his or her present, which were all possible murder weapons. Once introduced, each character had his or her own dance number to get a better idea of who each person was.
After being shown to be a smart yet bold man, the investigator discovered Mrs. Boddy gifted the first character, Professor Plum, a candlestick. His dance was Lil Wayne, whom he quoted during the investigation.
Next was Mrs. White, who flirted her way through the interrogation and was gifted an empty bag. Her dance was tap based, which’s difficulty yet grace wowed the audience and left people talking eagerly amongst themselves.
The investigator then went after the divorced Ms. Peacock, whom Mrs. Boddy gifted a wrench. Her dance reflected her sassy and independent personality, carried by a Nicki Minaj mashup.
Mrs. Reverend Green was the fourth investigated, and it was found that she had business deals with the deceased. Her gift was a long metal rod, perfect for bludgeoning someone. Her dance stuck to her classy style with tutus, yet stuck to the hip-hop theme with T-Pain.
The sensual Miss Scarlet was next on the investigator’s list. She tried to flirt her way through the encounter, but he was not falling for her games. Scarlet revealed that she put on a personal show for Mrs. Boddy’s husband before leaving, and her bag contained a knife. Her dance fit her sexual nature perfectly, dancing to the Pussycat Doll’s “Buttons.”
The final person interviewed was the crazy Colonel Mustard, who received a rope. Her dance, however, was not crazy like her personality, but it was eccentric yet impressive hip-hop like the rest of the show.
After continued investigation of the objects, it was revealed that the wrench was bent, as though it was used to bludgeon something. Ms. Peacock was discovered to be the murderer, and the show ended through a final dance number with the whole team.
The highly anticipated performance was a huge success, and it sold out an hour before show time.
“We were all freaking out backstage saying we couldn’t do this, but we did it!” Michelle Beckett-Ansa, one of the team captains, said.
With all the stress aside, the team is proud of its performance.
“I think it was really, really awesome,” fellow captain Colleen Corrado said. “Everyone worked so hard, they put so many hours into practice, and you can really tell based on how the dances looked today, and everyone put in such hard work. I think it went really, really well.”
From this point on, the hip-hop team’s focus is shifting to the spring show.
forstena17@bonaventure.edu
