RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Elisabeth Yancey (she/her) begins serving up French maid realness Tuesday night on the big stage. She stars as Yvette, the maid character in the murdery mystery comedy Clue which opens at Bass Hall on Tuesday. As she gets ready for curtain call, the classical trained actor has found a distinct pleasure in playing a role she just so happened to originate.
“It’s been really lovely because I did have the pleasure of being in the original production with this creative team,” she said. “It’s always a delight for an actor to help create a role and then to come back to and being able to find that I want to do it differently is really fun. It’s been a joy to rediscover her.”
Clue opens tonight and runs through Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
Based on the classic Hasbro board game and the 1985 film, Clue: Live on Stage! features the famed six characters convened in a chilly Boddy Manor for the night. The whodunit will keep the audience guessing – much like the game – if the onsite murder was done by Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife or maybe by Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench.
Yancey may not be a suspect as Yvette, but her character is certainly in the mix of things.
“She is a little wacky and has lots of secrets,” Yancey said. “I have this whole backstory for her being involved with crime in Paris so it makes sense she gets involved in this story.”
After playing more than 300 times, Yancey has to keep Yvette interesting.
“To a degree, she’s evolving which is part of the delight and challenge of her,” the 30 year-old actor said.
Yancey, who identifies as pansexual, has even dabbled with Yvette’s orientation.
“I think she’s probably bi. The show doesn’t have the language for pan, but if it did, maybe she would be. I think that’s part of the fun of this. I’m doing this job because I love it, but then I can have a little bit more fun finding that story about the character, even if it isn’t necessary,” she said.
For her own experience, Yancey has found that her identity and her craft have intersected. When she begins to describe, it recalls those 70s movies with lesbian love stories, but here it’s a different kind of love story.
“I went to an all-women’s college and it was there I had some beautiful theatrical experiences in school where I felt my identity and art were intersecting,” she said. “Before I was always bi, I guess, but when I worked on a solo show, I was able to explore some of my identity.”
She discovered her true orientation through the art of theater.
“When you can fully identify your expression through art – through your art, what a joy that is,” she said.
Now she hopes that she can find other pieces where she and her character identify the same way.
“It’s a tricky spot, because as actors, a job is a job,” she said. “We take the jobs and feel fortunate to have that, but I also keep myself open to what the world has in store. I can play a character like Yvette and consider her bisexual, but I can also seek out projects that truly align with me and my identity that help me always move closer to my truest self.”
For tickets, visit BassHall.com.