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connielane at 05:00pm on 14/05/2014
connielane at 05:00pm on 14/05/2014Maybe it's that I hadn't been to the theater in forever until this past weekend, but I fell head over heels for A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (which I shall call GGTLAM from here on out for the sake of my fingers).
I got a little depressed last year when the Tony Awards rolled around and I hadn't seen anything, so I determined to see at least one or two biggies this time (hoping to see After Midnight soon). Looking at what there is to see, it's discouraging how many of the new musicals are based on movies and how little is based on original material. Even GGTLAM is based on a book that was made into a movie (the novel Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal, on which the great film Kind Hearts and Coronets was loosely based). But this musical, at least, was based on the *book*, not the movie, and wouldn't be co-opting popular iconography in hopes of luring audiences with the familiar.
The story is simple. A young man discovers that he is from a wealthy and influential family (who disinherited his mother because she married for love) and goes about killing all the relatives who are ahead of him in the line of succession so that he can inherit the earlship and the family's fortune. So basically a musical comedy about a serial killer. (Considering the amount of Hannibal on this journal, perhaps this is the point where you become concerned about me.) It's set in Edwardian England, roughly the setting of the first season of Downton Abbey. And the "success of the underdog climber" plot reminds me very much of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (only I like this musical much better).
The main character is Montague [D'Ysquith] Navarro, played by the criminally handsome Bryce Pinkham, and the entire D'Ysquith family - well, the eight that Monty has to bump off - are played by the criminally talented Jefferson Mays. The songs are all thick with words - think Gilbert & Sullivan meets Lerner and Loewe (many of the numbers are clearly inspired by "My Fair Lady") - and there's some lovely satire, especially satire aimed at the upper class. There are several noteworthy numbers, but my favorites are the songs that act as character pieces. The homoerotic anthem "Better With a Man" is brilliant and bawdy, and "Lady Hyacinth Abroad" is an amazing piss-taking of the conspicuous philanthropy of aristocrats ("Oh, where will my largesse be truly appreciated?!"). The one-two punch of "Sibella" and "I've Decided to Marry You" is another standout sequence, with Monty torn between sensuality (in the person of his married lover Sibella) and virtue (in the person of his fiancee Phoebe).
A few pictures, because this musical is just candy to look at...
I don't know if this is going to go on tour or what, but if you have the chance to see it, it's wonderful. *LOVE* this show, and the cast recording is my new jam. For certain values of jam.
I got a little depressed last year when the Tony Awards rolled around and I hadn't seen anything, so I determined to see at least one or two biggies this time (hoping to see After Midnight soon). Looking at what there is to see, it's discouraging how many of the new musicals are based on movies and how little is based on original material. Even GGTLAM is based on a book that was made into a movie (the novel Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal, on which the great film Kind Hearts and Coronets was loosely based). But this musical, at least, was based on the *book*, not the movie, and wouldn't be co-opting popular iconography in hopes of luring audiences with the familiar.
The story is simple. A young man discovers that he is from a wealthy and influential family (who disinherited his mother because she married for love) and goes about killing all the relatives who are ahead of him in the line of succession so that he can inherit the earlship and the family's fortune. So basically a musical comedy about a serial killer. (Considering the amount of Hannibal on this journal, perhaps this is the point where you become concerned about me.) It's set in Edwardian England, roughly the setting of the first season of Downton Abbey. And the "success of the underdog climber" plot reminds me very much of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (only I like this musical much better).
The main character is Montague [D'Ysquith] Navarro, played by the criminally handsome Bryce Pinkham, and the entire D'Ysquith family - well, the eight that Monty has to bump off - are played by the criminally talented Jefferson Mays. The songs are all thick with words - think Gilbert & Sullivan meets Lerner and Loewe (many of the numbers are clearly inspired by "My Fair Lady") - and there's some lovely satire, especially satire aimed at the upper class. There are several noteworthy numbers, but my favorites are the songs that act as character pieces. The homoerotic anthem "Better With a Man" is brilliant and bawdy, and "Lady Hyacinth Abroad" is an amazing piss-taking of the conspicuous philanthropy of aristocrats ("Oh, where will my largesse be truly appreciated?!"). The one-two punch of "Sibella" and "I've Decided to Marry You" is another standout sequence, with Monty torn between sensuality (in the person of his married lover Sibella) and virtue (in the person of his fiancee Phoebe).
A few pictures, because this musical is just candy to look at...
I don't know if this is going to go on tour or what, but if you have the chance to see it, it's wonderful. *LOVE* this show, and the cast recording is my new jam. For certain values of jam.