Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER Is Firecracker Full of Laughs - Rapson and Massey Rock!

What an absolutely and utterly engaging and rollicking good time is A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, the winner of four 2014 Tony Awards including Best Musical, now on tour and raising the rooftop at ASU Gammage.

Propelling that rooftop to delirious heights is a sterling ensemble, featuring the jet-fueled performances of John Rapson and Kevin Massey; the fun- and pun-infused lyrics of Steven Lutvak's and Robert Freedman's score, conveyed with brio under the musical direction of Lawrence Goldberg; Alexander Dodge's majestic period set; and Aaron Rhyne's uber-creative special effects (surreal projections of the m.o. of murder).

It is a simple premise: Eight heirs stand in the way of Monty Navarro's claim to the D'Ysquith estate. However, from such a foundation emerges a monster of a melodrama.

Beyond funny how casually Monty (played with extraordinary energy, boyish charm, and personality by Massey) eases into homicide and summarily disposes of each impediment to earldom! Entitlement, its name is Monty, and his appetite is boundless! Question: As he pens in his death row cell his memoir (the Gentleman's Guide) of the errant ways that have led him mere feet from execution, might there be more than just a hint of sympathy for this poor fellow who opted to hopscotch over the self-absorbed aristocrats of his family to assume his rightful place under the sun? Answer: You can't help but love Monty, thanks to Massey.

Hilarious and awe-inspiring how Rapson character-shifts, endowing each of the eight victims with distinctive affect and manner, and demonstrating a versatility that is...what other word can there be but...magnificent! You can't help but chuckle at the excesses and self-aggrandizement of the victims and hardly, if at all, feel a tinge of regret for their passing, thanks to Rapson.

As Monty rides his crime wave, he is also jockeying between the affections of two diametrically different love interests ~ on the one hand (literally), Sibella Hallward, the epitome of vanity, played convincingly and with allure by Kristen Beth Williams, and on the other, Phoebe D'Ysquith, a quite distantly removed cousin and the unsuspecting daughter of victim #3, played endearingly and with angelic voice by Adrienne Eller.

Scene after scene in GGLM is exaggeration as an art form, the kind of classic comedy laced with rapier-like delivery that locks one's lip into an unmovable smile until they break into hearty guffaws.

It is beyond wise for the audience to defy the opening Warning to the Audience, that "for those of...weaker constitution...who may be faint of heart" they "best depart." There's just too much of mirth in store, in this "tale of revenge and retribution" to do anything else but stay and enjoy until the performance is rewarded with a standing ovation.

The touring production of A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER continues its run at ASU Gammage through March 20th.

Photo credit to Joan Marcus

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