Q&A with Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson, a junior communications major, is one of three directors for Pauper Players’ “Broadway Melodies 2013,” opening Friday. His show is entitled “Cluessical.”

Staff writer Elizabeth Baker spoke with Thompson about the inspiration behind the show, its premise and the challenges he encountered.

DAILY TAR HEEL: What inspired you to create the idea around your production?

ALEX THOMPSON: It was pretty much exactly a year ago at last year’s “Broadway Melodies.” I had written and directed a show called “Avatartanic,” which combined “Avatar” and “Titanic.”

I had never thought about a board game before as a medium. “Clue” had been made into a movie in the ‘80s, so it’s kind of a cult classic.

DTH: What has the creative process been like?

AT: I actually didn’t play the game at all. I own the game, but I have not played it since I started writing this. I’ve been writing it on and off for six months, and I just watched the movie over and over and over again.

The process itself was lots of drafts. It used to be way longer, and it’s still too long — we are going to have to cut a couple of things.

DTH: What challenges or obstacles have you faced during the process?

AT: It was hard to do something this complex within a short amount of time. The script is 35 pages long, and that’s already pretty long for a “Broadway Melodies” set.

You only have two weeks to do (rehearsals). But I think that is what is so much fun about “Broadway Melodies.”

It’s something you slap together quickly, but the people working on it are so talented and are able to think on their feet and improvise.

DTH: Can you tell us a little bit about your show?

AT: “Cluessical” has nothing to do with “Seussical” — the only “Seussical” joke is in the title.
“Cluessical” is a parody of the board game and movie based on the board game, but mainly just the murder mystery — Agatha Christie — who-done-it genre.

It plays on the melodrama of that and just how ridiculous that situation would be. Why wouldn’t somebody just call the police and let the police deal with it?

But, instead, we have all of these strange people trying to figure something out.

DTH: What has been the most exciting part of the process, and why?

AT: The most exciting part of the process for me would have to be the songs.

One of the really fun things about this process is taking songs that already exist — amazing songs that are all from popular shows — and changing them to fit the plot that you have written.

It’s amazing to see the show come to life in that way. You get the cast in there and teach them the lyrics and the melodies, and it’s something more than just seeing a line of dialogue that you wrote spoken.

DTH: What’s your favorite part of your show?

AT: My favorite part of the show would be when we do a song from “Dreamgirls” in which nine different people are having this huge argument that is put to song.

By the end of the song, the universe of the board game is fully realized. It’s funny because it all falls together by the end while all of these people are scream-singing at each other.

DTH: What can the audience expect from your show?

AT: They can expect a lot of murder, a lot of confusion on the part of the characters, hopefully some laughs and just a lot of incredibly talented people. I feel super lucky to have gotten to play out this ridiculous scenario that I have come up with.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.