Tony Tuesday: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

This week we’re back in the teenies for some criminally good musical theatre. Today’s TONY Tuesday is:

“I’ve Decided To Marry You” from A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at the 2014 TONY awards ceremony.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is a 2012 musical that is based on the novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. The musical tells of Monty Navarro, a working class man who lives in Clapham and finds out his recently passed mother was disowned by her aristocratic family and that he is actually in 9th in line to inherit the Earldom of Highhurst. Monty is infatuated with Miss Sibella Howard but Sibella makes it quite clear to Monty that she won’t marry him because of his station. Monty visits the grounds of Highhurst: home to the D’Ysquith family (his lineage) to learn more about his roots; when a freak accident that Monty could have prevented results in a family members death, meaning Monty is one step closer to the Earldom. Monty then realises if he can somehow dispatch all members of the D’Ysquith family in succession, he will ascend to Earl, have a higher station and win Sibella’s hand in marriage. It’s a raucous show full of comedy, intrigue and a good old-fashioned love triangle. The musical features a score by Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, with Freedman also penning the book.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder premiered in 2012 enjoying a two-month run at the Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut. The musical was a co-production with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and therefore played there after its Hartford engagement in March 2013. The cast featured Jefferson Mays playing all nine members of the D’Ysquith family, Ken Barnett as Monty, Lisa O’Hare as Sibella and Chilina Kennedy as Phoebe D’Ysquith.

The musical transferred to Broadway, opening for previews on 22 October 22 2013. Mays and O’Hare reprised their roles from the out of town runs, with Bryce Pinkham and Lauren Worsham joining the Broadway cast as Monty and Phoebe respectively. The show opened at The Walter Kerr Theatre on 17 November 17 2013, directed by Darko Tresnjak, with choreography by Peggy Hickey, scenic design by Alexander Hodge, costume design by Linda Cho and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. The musical was a financial and critical success, being nominated for nine 2014 TONY awards, winning four including the Best Musical gong. The show closed on 17 January 17 2016.

The show has enjoyed two US national tours and an Australian production but has yet to premiere in Europe.

Besties, I was fortunate to see this show on Broadway and it is an absolute riot! Give it a listen as it’s an absolute joy.

Cast recording available on Spotify and AppleMusic.

FACTS:

Music: Steven Lutvak
Lyrics: Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak
Book: Robert L. Freedman
Theatre: The Walter Kerr Theatre
Run: 22 October 22 2013 – 17 January 17 2016 (around 28 previews and 832 performances)

TONYS:

(NOMINATED) Best Original Score – Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, Best Actor in a Musical – Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Lauren Worsham, Best Orchestrations – Jonathan Tunick, Best Scenic Design – Alexander Lodge

(WON) Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical – Robert L. Freedman, Best Direction of a Musical – Darko Tresnjak, Best Costume Design – Linda Cho