Playbill of The Week: A Gentleman's Guide to Love&Murder

10/53

I got off my Megabus and sprinted to the Walter Kerr theatre hoping to get my hands on a ticket to Gentleman's Guide. Luckily; even though it was right after the Tony Awards where the show one 4 including Best Musical, I got myself a ticket and waltzed off to enjoy my day till the show.

To be completely honest I was interest in seeing this show because Bryce Pinkham. I am a big fan of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and really enjoyed him in Shakespeare in The Park's "Love's Labour's Lost" and was really excited to finally see him in a lead role. But after listening to the cast recording and seeing the Tony's performance I was excited for much more than just the dashing Bryce Pinkham.

A Gentleman's Guide is a musical comedy, based on a novel from 1907 called Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. A show about a man who learns he is heir to a large family fortune, and begins killing them to get closer to the money. Who doesn't love a good laugh over a murder? The show is charming, beautiful; because of Linda Cho's costume designs, clever and classic.

Now for the acting. I must start with the man who made this show what it was, Jefferson Mays. Monty's character is slowly 'murdering' his entire newly found family, and one of the brilliant decisions made by the creative team is having the spectacular Jefferson Mays play every variation of that family member. It adds a layer of humour to the show that wouldn't have been created if you had a bunch of different actors attempting the roles. Having a man play men and women is funny to the general public to begin with, especially when it really is just a man in a wig. But it also adds a layer of suspicion, are there really that many family members or is he just killing the same person over and over and that will lead to his demise? Whatever it is, it lets Jefferson be on the stage in numerous characters that allow him to show off his comedic powers. If you didn't cry off your mascara from laughing so much, there's something wrong with you.

Then we have the leading man himself, Bryce Pinkham as Monty Navarro. His comedic chops are not neglected in this show as well. He plays a down on his luck, love stricken man who thinks his life is going nowhere. He's head over heels for a married woman who is stringing him along. But Bryce makes him charming and witty at every point of the show. Even though he's been killing off dozens of people you still don't want anything bad to happen to him. You want him to get the girl and the family fortune. Yes that's a part of the book, but it's also a testament to Bryce's performing. He sounds like a classic musical theatre performer with a modern twist, a charming presence on stage. He can be sexy and a fool within a span of two songs, and you fall for both parts of him. No wonder he has two women after him during the show. Just check out the Tony performance of "I've Decided To Marry You" and you'll get it.

The two leading ladies both made their Broadway debut's with this show, and thank heavens they did. Lisa O'Hare and Lauren Worsham were absolutely perfect for their respective roles. Lisa O'Hare who plays Sibella, a woman who clearly only cares about social ranking and privilege, yet has Monty wrapped around her finger, does a spectacular job of creating a character who you should hate, but just can't. Sibella is brash, sexy, charming and doesn't hide her pettiness, which just makes her even more charming. Lauren Worsham does a beautiful job of making the 'ingénue' character interesting, hilarious, sweet and adorable. You want the pair of Monty and Phoebe to get together and live a happy life. She's over the top in her grieving, which just makes her even more charming. I will forever be torn between which character I want to play more, and that is 100% due to the spectacular performances these two women gave.

A special shout out goes to Jane Carr as Miss Shingle. She is the back bone behind the show. Her character hands out the information when needed, and is always there for comedic relief. Everything about her was funny and perfect.

I'm all for more classic musicals paired with more modern or morbid storylines. This show was everything I hoped for and more when I saw it. I felt everything I needed to during this show, I laughed till I was in tears, I found new performers to fall in love with, I learned a lot about how to be subtle yet big at the same time, and when the two need to balance each other out. This was a hilarious musical that everyone should see. It's easy to like, beautiful to watch, and if you don't walk away singing 'why are all the D'Ysquith dying' then I don't get you. I have an obsession with anything morbid so this show was basically tailored for me. So go watch the Tony performance, download the cast recording and laugh your heart away.