Laguna Playhouse Opens 2025–26 Season With A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER

Laguna Playhouse will launch its 2025/26 season with the Tony Award-winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

With a book by Robert L. Freedman, music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, choreography by Luke Harvey Jacobs, musical direction by Anthony Zediker, and direction by Noelle Marion, the darkly comic romp begins previews on Wednesday, September 17, opens officially on Sunday, September 21 at 5:30 p.m., and continues through Sunday, October 5 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

What’s a poor Monty Navarro to do when he discovers he’s ninth in line to a dukedom? Eliminate the eight relatives standing in his way, of course. With wit, charm, and a touch of homicide, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder follows Monty’s madcap rise through Edwardian society, complete with outrageous plot twists, lightning-fast costume changes, and a gallery of eccentric characters.

The creative team brings Broadway-caliber pedigree to Laguna Beach. Freedman won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Book of a Musical for Gentleman’s Guide, and was also nominated for Best Score alongside Lutvak. Lutvak, who passed away in 2023, was a celebrated composer and performer whose score for Gentleman’s Guide earned multiple honors, including the Tony for Best Musical. Director Noelle Marion has staged productions for North Coast Rep, Moonlight, and The Old Globe, while Anthony Zediker recently served as associate conductor on the national tour of Annie. Choreographer Luke Harvey Jacobs has credits with Cygnet Theatre, Moonlight Stage, and Diversionary.

The Laguna Playhouse production features Andrew Polec as Monty, Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper as the entire D’Ysquith family, Katy Tang as Phoebe, Lauren Weinberg as Sibella, Jean Kauffman as Miss Shingle, Shinah Hey as Miss Barley and Lady Eugenia, Michael Cavinder as Inspector Pinckney, and Andrew Hey as Tom Copley. The design team includes scenic designer Marty Burnett, Costume Designer Eliza Benzoni, lighting designer Matthew Novotny, sound designer Jesse Worley, props designer Audrey Casteris, hair and wig designer Peter Herman, and production stage manager Laura ZIngle.

Performances will be Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 1:00 and 5:30 p.m. (No performance Sunday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. or Sunday, October 5 at 5:30 p.m.) A post-show talkback will follow the performance on Friday, September 26.