A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Company: Stagedoor Theatre Adult Company
Book and Lyrics by: Robert L. Freedman
Music and Lyrics by: Steven Lutvak
Based on a novel by: Roy Horniman
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (includes 15 minute intermission)
Date of Performance: Saturday, February 8, 2020, 2:00 PM performance.
You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you certainly can’t judge a play by its title. Any title using the words “Gentleman,” “Love” and “Murder” is bound to conjure up images of romance, tragedy, drama, and mayhem. Stage Door Theatre’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” (hereafter “Love and Murder”) is not a romance, nor a tragedy or a drama. Surprisingly, it’s a highly entertaining musical comedy triumph.
“Love and Murder” opens with a warning for the faint hearted: “LEAVE NOW.” Ignore it. It’s bad advice. This is a high energy comedy that won four Tony awards (including Best Musical) in the 2014 Broadway season.
Since I don’t do spoilers, I’ll limit my comments on the plot to saying that palace intrigue can be a dangerous game, but the results can sometimes bring about righteous justice. The plot doesn’t dwell on the morality of “gentlemen,” “love,” or “murder,” except to squeeze every possible laugh out of each.
Stage Door Theatre is a small company in small venue. “Love and Murder” is a huge production for any company. That Stage Door attempted “Love and Murder” isn’t a big surprise though; the company has been overachieving for some time. That they nailed this production demonstrates that Stage Door is punching far above its weight.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Chris Burroughs brings his “A” game in every scene, whether he’s dabbling in love or crime. He’s an accomplished and talented singer who seems to glide through the show effortlessly. Burroughs plays off his female leads with a wink and a smile, charming everyone in the room.
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| Chris Burroughs (Monty) and Jennasea Pearce (Sibella). |
Those female leads, by the way, are a joy to watch…and to hear. Both Maria Giovanetti and Jennasea Pearce are songbirds of the first order. It’s easy to imagine both in a talent pipeline straight to Broadway.
Clyde Sacks has the dubious honor of playing (by my count) ten characters in “Love and Murder.” Two of those characters are women. I doubt many actors would take on such a challenge. Sacks makes it look like the most natural thing to do. He skillfully draws bold lines around each of the nine characters, making them distinctly different. He’s got a gift for comedic timing. His scene with Burroughs for “Better with a Man” is hilarious. In fact, if one adds up the laughs in “Love and Murder,” the lion’s share belongs to Sacks.
The technical gears that drive the performance were well done. Dean Arniotes’ set is versatile and functional. Susie Couch’s costumes are gorgeous. The small orchestra is invisible while putting out a professional sound track for the cast. Lights and sound were effective without being intrusive. Every detail, right down to Chris Burrough’s marvelous wigs, was spot on.
If one is to pick any nits here, a stage hand made a brief unschedule appearance onstage, and a camera prop got misplaced. That’s it. From start to finish, “Love and Murder” is a polished, professional and highly entertaining production.
Stage Door marshaled a small army of actors, musicians, technicians, and assorted volunteers to make this show happen. The list below is long, but still partial. It’s clear that each and every person involved in “Love and Murder” gave 100% to guarantee the success of the show. This is a personal hat tip to those involved, whether listed below or not. Well done.
NOTES:
This show gets a PG rating for some vulgar gestures.
The performance scheduled for Friday, February 7 was cancelled due to the 15-20 inches of snow that fell during that day. Due to the cancellation, tickets for the remaining performances may be scarce.
This show closes on February 16, 2020.
Photo Credit: Stage Door Theatre, Rachel McCombs-Graham.
CREATIVE TEAM:
Director/Choreographer: Gerry Hansen
Music Director: Caitlin Conklin
Production Manager: Susie Couch
Assistant Choreographer: Meg Chilton
Dance Captain: Jennasea Pearce
Technical Director/Set Designer: Dean Arniotes
Set Construction: Dean Ariotes, Biz Schaugaard
Painter: Cat Harris
Lighting Design: Steve Tangedal
Sound Design: Dean Arniotes
Orchestra: Caitlin Conklin, keyboards, Alec Michael Powell, woodwinds, Danny Barsetti-Nerland, percussion, Lisa Kriss, violin
Costume Design: Susie Couch
Costume Manager: Maren Wood
D’Ysquith Costumes: Colleen Hughes
D’Ysquith dressers: Susie Couch, Denise Taylor
Costume Crew: Karen Maurer, Colleen Kirkpatrick Hughes, Jennasea Pearce, Lina Ramirez
Wigs: Chris Burroughs
Props: Tracie Paschall, Ella Spoor, Gavin Maurer, Gerry Hansen, Clyde Sacks, Robin Booth
Light Board Operator: Jon Weeks
Stage Manager: Ella Spoor
Stage Hands: Julia Harrison, Leilani Battersby
CAST:
Monty Navarro: Chris Burroughs
Asquith D’Ysquith, Jr., Lord Adlabert D’Ysquith, Reverend Lord Ezekiel D’Ysquith, Lord Adlabert D’Ysquith, Sr., Henry D’Ysquith, Lady Hyacinth D’Ysquith, Major Lord Bartholomew D’Ysquith, Lady Salome D’Ysquith, Pumphrey, Chanucey D’Ysquith: Clyde Sacks.
Sibella Hallward/Ensemble: Jennesea Pearce
Phoebe D’Ysquiith/Ensemble: Maria Giovanetti
Miss Shingle/Ensemble: Susie Couch
Miss Barley/Ensemble: Ashley Devine
Lady Eugenia D’ysquith/Ensemble: Marcelina Ramirez
Tour Guide/Ensemble: Scout Halpern
Tom Copley/Ensemble: Jeremy Carr
Inspector/Ensemble: Gavin Maurer
Magistrate/Ensemble: Keith Rabin-Hoover
Great review! Way to go Bill!
ReplyDeleteThanks...but if it weren't for Roxie, things would have been different. She's been a great help to me on this.
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