Photo by Joan Marcus
This week's "Show of the Week" is another last chance saloon pick, which comes to us in the form of the irreverent musical comedy A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak's raucously chaotic offering will play its final performance at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre on 17 January 2016.
There is a touch of "Miss Marple" infused with "Monty Python" and a dash of "Sherlock Holmes" sprinkled with "Carry On" about this musical. So if you are a fan of things quintessentially British and quintessentially ridiculous, this really is the show for you.
Perhaps the highlight of the night is the show-stealing (and very hard-working performance) of original cast member Jefferson Mays, who received a Tony Award nomination in 2014 for his efforts. Mays brilliantly and effectively plays all the members of The D'Ysquith Family (male and female), who stand in the way of Monty Navarro becoming heir to the D'Ysquith fortune. Being bumped off several times an evening for eight shows a week is no mean feat. The actor must have set an all-time record for deaths executed on Broadway and the ways in which he repeatedly departs us, like a live-action Kenny from "South Park," had me in stitches. What a talented performer with a true gift for comedy.
Special mentions also go to Bryce Pinkham, who also received a Tony Award nomination in 2014 in the same category as Mays for his performance as Monty Navarro, and to Scarlett Strallen, who took over the role of Sibella Hallward last February. Indeed after Pinkham initially left the production to star alongside Elisabeth Moss and Jason Biggs in 'The Heidi Chronicles' on Broadway, 'A Gentleman's Guide' was more than happy to open its arms to him once again and welcome him back on 28 July 2015. Deliciously scheming and charismatic, we have no choice but to root for the murderer here as he hatches his devilish plot. And Strallen is delightfully melodramatic as Sibella, the initial object of Monty's affections.
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder picked up a total of 4 Tony Awards in 2014 - Linda Cho's gloriously British period costumes rightfully earned "Best Costume Design of a Musical," Darko Tresnjak's uncanny staging earned him "Best Direction of a Musical, Robert L. Freedman picked up the gong for "Best Book of a Musical" and, of course, the highest honour was bestowed upon this farcical frolic with the 2014 Tony Award for "Best Musical."
Buy your tickets now for this Tony Award-winning spectacle of comedy before those D'Ysquiths can finally rest in peace!
Click here for tickets to A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, which is booking through to 17 January 2016 at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre.
Photo by Joan Marcus Jefferson Mays, Jennifer Smith & Bryce Pinkham in A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder More production photosOriginally published on