Interview: Andrew Cope of A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER at Palo Alto Players

Palo Alto Players will present the Tony Award-winning musical comedy A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder September 11–27 at the Lucie Stern Theater.

With a book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, the musical follows Monty Navarro, a penniless young man who discovers that eight members of the wealthy D’Ysquith family stand between him and an earldom. Monty soon begins removing those relatives from the line of succession—all while navigating romance, ambition and the increasingly complicated consequences of murder.

Andrew Cope leads the production as Monty, alongside Chesny Evert as Phoebe D’Ysquith, Brenna Silva as Sibella Hallward and Brandon Savage as the (ill-fated) members of the D’Ysquith family. Lee Ann Payne directs and choreographs the production, with music and vocal direction by Tony Gaitan.

Ahead of the production, I spoke with Cope about Monty’s transformation, the challenge of carrying a fast-paced musical and the castmate determined to make him break character.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, how would you describe Monty—and how do you explain the fact that we somehow find ourselves rooting for him?

Monty is a character who finds himself down on his luck, like many characters in musicals do. Then he suddenly learns that he is ninth in line to become the Earl of Highhurst. Somewhat accidentally at first, and then more deliberately later, he sets out to kill all eight members of the D’Ysquith family ahead of him so that he can become the earl.

What made you want to play Monty? Was it the music, the comedy or the opportunity to commit multiple fictional murders?

It’s the variety of things I get to do onstage. There are a lot of different notes to the character.

He starts off kind of sad, and then he has this evolution. He begins taking on other characters as part of his murderous ruse, and he’s able to be very adaptable. The audience gets to see, step by step, how the character changes.

He’s a fun character because he isn’t one-note. You get to do a lot of different things.

Monty spends the show juggling murder, romance and social climbing. Which of those three do you think you would personally be best at?

Obviously romance—but maybe not so much.

I would say I have the most experience with romance and the least experience with murder. I would be too insecure to be good at murder. I don’t think I would have the confidence.

Monty is barely offstage during the show. At what point in rehearsals did you realize that you really don’t get a break?

We did our first run-through this week, which was about three weeks before opening. That was when it dawned on me just how much I need to keep in my head at once to make it through the entire show.

I think I had my “Oh, no” moment this week, but there’s still plenty of time to go.

The production has a lot of moving pieces. Is there a particular part of the show that keeps you on edge as an actor?

The parts I’m paying the most attention to are Monty’s internal monologues, many of which are told through patter songs.

Patter songs are half-spoken and half-sung, with very fast-paced lyrics. It’s a fun genre of song for telling this story because it captures his frenetic internal dialogue.

They’re very fun to perform, but it’s also important that the audience understands the words because they explain what’s going on in Monty’s mind. There’s a balance between saying all the words fast enough and saying them clearly enough for the audience to understand.

Being able to decipher those patter songs is key to the audience understanding Monty.

What is the hardest moment in the show to get through without breaking character?

I break all the time.

Any scene with Brandon Savage playing the D’Ysquith family is difficult. He goes so hard with every individual character, and a lot of his choices are meant specifically to make me break. He succeeds.

Do you have a favorite member of the D’Ysquith family that Brandon plays?

He plays Lady Salome D’Ysquith Pumphrey, who is a really bad actress. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how the audience reacts to Brandon playing Lady Salome.

If Monty had to choose a completely legal career instead of murdering his way into an inheritance, what do you think he would do?

At the beginning of the show, the script makes a point of saying that Monty doesn’t have any prospects. His mother always dreamed that he would attend Oxford or Cambridge, but he can’t do that because he doesn’t have the money.

It would have to be something where he could get by simply by being an eager young person—nothing that necessarily requires credentials or status. Something where you can succeed by being happy to be there, without needing to certify yourself.

Maybe he would be an actor. You don’t need a fancy degree. You just have to be happy to be there.

Finally, give us your best completely spoiler-free sales pitch. Why should audiences see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder?

Some people already know the show and really love its style, while others aren’t familiar with it. Regardless, everyone who comes to see it will experience a fast-paced, wild ride filled with twists and turns.

It’s captivating from beginning to end. Whatever you think about it going in, it will surpass your expectations.

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