The Pahrump Valley High School Theatre Department is putting a new twist on its annual spring production this year, bringing “Clue” to the stage with not only its traditional student-led production, but a staff production as well.
The February run is expected to include student performances, staff performances and the possibility of a combined-cast show, giving students and PVHS employees an opportunity to share in the theatre experience in a new way.
For many of the staff members involved, it will be their first experience performing on stage.
The idea grew in part from last year’s PVHS production of “Spamalot,” when staff member Joe Marsh joined the student cast. Marsh, a longtime Monty Python fan, played the father and said the size of the role allowed him to participate without taking away from the students’ production.
His experience caught the attention of other staff members who began expressing interest in getting involved.
“If you keep doing this, Doc, I’m going to keep showing up,” Marsh said. “I’m also going to try to butt myself into the student productions as much as I can.”
This year, Marsh will take on the role of Mr. Green in the staff production of “Clue.”
Assistant Director Chase Moore, a student who is helping with both casts, said Marsh’s experience with “Spamalot” helped generate interest among other employees.
“A lot of other people started coming out of the woodwork,” Moore said. “‘Hey, this sounds really fun.’”
That interest eventually led director Dr. Audra Duvall to move forward with a full staff version of the show.
The format also offers a practical benefit. With students and adults learning many of the same roles, members of one cast could potentially step in for the other when needed, creating an additional layer of understudies.
But the larger goal is to open the theatre program to people who may not otherwise have an opportunity to perform.
“It’s just sort of to integrate people who want to get into it regardless of how old they are,” Moore said.
The staff cast features George Baker as Colonel Mustard, Melanie Spackman as Mrs. White, Pam Petersen as Mrs. Peacock, Michael Duvall as Professor Plum, Amber Lugo as Miss Scarlett and Marsh as Mr. Green.
Charlena Bailey will portray the Cook, while Linda Coffman will play the Motorist, Kathryn Walden will appear as the Unexpected Cop, Kendra McCauley will play the Singing Telegram Girl and Christine Byrom will take on the role of Chief of Police.
Deb Garland will serve as understudy for Mrs. Peacock, assist with the Cook’s role and appear as one of the backup cops. Coffman and Walden are also listed among the backup cops.
Students will round out several major roles in the staff production, with Moore portraying Wadsworth, Samantha Barnett playing Yvette and Emery Miller-Rocha appearing as Mr. Boddy.
For Petersen, who is taking on Mrs. Peacock, watching Marsh perform last year helped convince her to try something entirely new.
“This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, so definitely outside of my comfort zone,” Petersen said. “When I saw him in the play, and he did such a great job, I thought, ‘That would be so fun. I would like to try and do that.’”
When the opportunity to audition came along, Petersen decided to take the chance.
“I’m really, really glad that I have,” she said. “I’m excited.”
Spackman is also making her stage debut as Mrs. White. A fan of the “Clue” movie, she decided to audition after seeing Duvall’s casting call.
“I have also never done anything like this, but I love the movie ‘Clue,’” Spackman said. “I said, ‘Oh, I’m gonna try.’”
Others are returning to theatre after years away.
Garland said she has long loved drama and theatre but has not performed on stage since 2016. Returning to a production after a decade away has made this year’s opportunity particularly meaningful.
Michael Duvall brings more experience to the cast. Playing Professor Plum, he said he has acted on and off since 1992 and is looking forward to seeing the students and staff work together.
“We had our first reading the other day, and it went well,” he said. “I think there’s some natural talent in here, so it should be exciting to see that come together.”
Coffman, who will portray the Motorist, said the students were a major reason she wanted to participate.
“We have some very talented students here, and I just wanted to be part of it,” she said.
The staff production is also giving students an opportunity to see their teachers and other school employees in a different setting — including watching some of them take the same kind of leap students make when they audition for the first time.
Barnett experienced that firsthand with Baker, who will portray Colonel Mustard.
Barnett was part of the ensemble for “Spamalot” last year and was also a student in Baker’s history class. She recalled Baker telling her how impressed he was to see a student who was typically quiet in class confidently perform on stage.
Now their positions have, in a sense, been reversed.
“When I found out he was gonna be in our staff play, I was really happy because he told me that he’s never done anything like this either before,” Barnett said. “I think it’s really cool to see people stepping out of their comfort zone with this.”
That crossover between students and staff is at the heart of the experiment. Rather than the adults simply supporting the students from the audience, they will experience rehearsals, learning lines and taking the stage themselves, while students such as Moore and Barnett will have the unusual opportunity to perform alongside their teachers.
There is also a third possibility being explored for the production. Duvall is considering a “combo” performance that could mix members of the student and staff casts. Exactly what that performance will look like is still being developed.
For Duvall, the concept is something she has thought about for years — finding additional ways to use the stage and giving more people an opportunity to experience theatre.
Whether the staff production becomes an annual addition to PVHS Theatre’s spring show will depend largely on how this first attempt goes. Early enthusiasm, however, has left open the possibility that faculty and staff could continue joining students on stage in future seasons.
Performances of PVHS Theatre’s spring production of “Clue” are planned during the weeks of Feb. 8 and Feb. 15. The run will feature performances by the student and staff casts, with the likelihood of the combined-cast performance also being explored.
Official performance dates and times, along with ticket information, will be announced at a later date.
For now, the experiment gives this year’s spring production something audiences have not seen from the PVHS Theatre Department before. On one night, teachers and staff may be watching their students solve the mystery from the audience. On another, the students may be the ones watching as their teachers become the suspects.
And somewhere in between, they may all end up sharing the stage.
