Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER is Great Fun at The Fox Theatre

So, this was my first time seeing A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER, and as the plot began to unfold, I was struck by its similarity to a film I saw many years before. Growing up, I remember watching selections from the Janus Films collection on my local PBS station (KETC, channel 9 in St. Louis), and the film that immediately came to mind was Kind Hearts and Coronets, which featured Alec Guinness in a variety of roles. Reading the program I noticed that Roy Borniman's novel of the same name was the basis for this Tony winning musical. Mystery solved. This is a wonderfully fun take on the story, and it makes for an engaging and highly entertaining experience. Even if you've never seen the movie or read the book, you'll find plenty to love about this splendid adaptation that makes it all seem very fresh and funny!

Kevin Massey does terrific work as Monty Navarro, who finds out upon his mother's death that he is an heir to the D'Ysquith fortune, although he's pretty far down the list of eight that are ahead of him. Add to that the facts that his mother was disinherited and he rebuffed when inquiring about working for them, and you can reach the conclusion that he'll likely die an old man before he reaches the top of the chain. Unless, of course, he stumbles into it through a sort of ridiculous series of happenstance.

Which brings us to John Rapson, whose splendid transformations between the members of the various D'Ysquith family Monty encounters, are all delightfully over the top characterizations, but each in distinctly different ways, while maintaining a sort of through thread of goofy, slightly crazed sounding, laughter they all seem to share. They're all a bit daft in one way or another, and present a wide palette to Rapson, who is simply hilarious in all his various guises, both male and female.

Kristen Beth Williams is a Victorian age flirt, who toys with Monty's emotions, letting him think he's suitable for marriage, while getting herself engaged in the meantime. Of course, his ascension up the D'Ysquith family line makes him more appealing, but it also brings her closer to the secret of who's behind all these various murders/deaths that keep piling up. Adrienne Eller is winningly appealing as Phoebe D'YSquith, whose own intentions toward Monty complicate matters considerably. The entire supporting cast and crew do a marvelous job of bringing all these elements together in utterly seamless fashion.

Robert L. Freedman (book & lyrics) and Steven Lutvak (music & lyrics) have crafted this tale into a very tight little slice of theater goodness, and Darko Tresnjak's direction gives us a vision that's particularly well staged. Alexander Dodge's scenic design aids that cause with its stage within a stage, which is then augmented further through the use of some clever projections (Aaron Rhyne). Each scene is accessed like a memory, which is how it should be. Linda Cho's costumes add immensely to the atmosphere, and so do Joe LaPointe's wigs.

There's a reason A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER won a Tony; it's simply an awfully funny period musical with plenty to offer. Go see it at the Fox Theatre though September 25, 2016.

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