A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder By Juanita Seon Leary, KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror
I had the pleasure of seeing the Tony- Award winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder at the Playhouse at Rodney Square, formerly the Dupont Theater in Wilmington, Delaware. The Playhouse at Rodney Square continues to feel like a grand theater of yesteryear.
I am a fan of musicals. When I was a young child, I wanted to be a tap dancer in a musical show. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder lives up to an award- winning musical production. In each scene, lavish Edwardian decor of the sets put you in the time frame.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder is the story of a young man Monty Navarro (Kevin Massey) who discovers, to his great shock, that his unfortunate late mother was disinherited from the highborn D’Ysquith clan for marrying a Castilian musician for love. Monty finds out he is ninth in line to inherit a dukedom and he decides to eliminate the other eight heirs standing in his way. Monty meets and eliminates them one by one.
I enjoyed watching Monty plan his way to dukedom. It is so funny to watch all eight D’Ysquith heirs (John Rapson). Each character has distinctive look and personality as he portrays The Rev. Lord D’Ezekial, the buxom Lady Hyacinth, the pompousness of the reigning Lord Adalbert and the perkiness of the bright-eyed beekeeper Henry with whom he sings double-entendres in a mock-duet, “Better With a Man”).
One of my favorite numbers is the scene in which Monty tries to keep his latest love interest, Phoebe (Kristin Hahn), from discovering that his old flame, Sibella (Kristen Beth Williams) is in the other room. It is very creative and the ladies’ beautiful voices blend to let us see Monty dilemma.
All the cast members are excellent singers, dances and actors. If you want to be entertained, learn a few tips about how to move to front of the line of heirs and entertain more than one love, go see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder now playing at The Playhouse of Rodney Square, until November 20, 2016.
I recommend A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder for ages 14 to 18 and adults will enjoy it also. I give A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder 5 out of 5 stars.
