By Peter Thomas Ricci<\/p>\n
\u201cA Gentleman\u2019s Guide to Murder,\u201d the latest offering from renowned theater company Porchlight Music Theatre, features one of the most wickedly delightful premises I have ever seen in a stage musical. Monty Navarro, a young man of modest means, learns that he is the descendent of the elite D\u2019Ysquith family, and that he is currently eighth-in-line to the D\u2019Ysquith earlship. After his initial, sincere efforts at connecting with the family are rebuked by the elite clan, Monty resolves to systematically murder every D\u2019Ysquith heir until he, at last, becomes the earl and patriarch of the family.<\/p>\n
What follows is a delightfully macabre sequence of murders, involving everything from honey bees, to ice skating, to carefully administered poison \u2013 and all throughout, Porchlight\u2019s terrific staging and sensational cast thrust the audience into this zany world of gamesmanship and conspiracy. As Monty, Andr\u00e9s Enriquez is excellent, with sharp comedic timing and a soaring tenor. As his duel love interests, Emily Goldberg and Ann Delaney are charming and lovely. And the chorus (which includes the dynamic Sharriese Hamilton and the fine baritone of Michael Reyes) is a sheer hoot. They all do a most marvelous job with the excellent songs of Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak.<\/p>\n
But really, this show belongs to the incomparable Matt Crowle, who approaches his multiple roles with an aplomb and a precision that is truly rare, even in the superb ranks of Chicago theater. Across the musical\u2019s two hours, Crowle portrays every member of the D\u2019Ysquith family \u2013 from a senile theologian, to a stuffy banker, to an eccentric beekeeper, to a crass earl, to a loony dame\/philanthropist \u2013 and to each role, he brings his trademark wit and timing. And most remarkable of all, Crowle\u2019s singing voice, always clear and magnificent, adapts to whichever character he is inhabiting. It is a virtuosic display of musical theatre, and should not be missed.<\/p>\n
Special attention must also be paid to the production\u2019s technical achievements. Angela Weber Miller\u2019s scenic design is hugely imaginative, and utilizes both digital screens and clever props to transform the performing space. Jeff Hendry\u2019s costumes are terrific \u2013 especially for Crowle, who often changes from one elaborate costume to the another, between scenes, as he shifts characters. And Stephen Schellhardt\u2019s precise direction brings it all together, taking full advantage of the Ruth Page stage.<\/p>\n
The night I saw \u201cGentleman\u2019s Guide,\u201d the temperature outside was well below zero, and it was clear, before the show\u2019s start, what the audience had endured to make it to the performance \u2013 it\u2019s a testament to Porchlight\u2019s caliber, however, that the polar vortex was the least of our concerns once the show began.<\/p>\n
Highly Recommended<\/b><\/p>\n
Playing through March 16 <\/span>at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N Dearborn St, Chicago IL 60610<\/span><\/p>\n Tickets can be purchased at porchlightmusictheatre.org, or by calling 773-777-9884<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Peter Thomas Ricci \u201cA Gentleman\u2019s Guide to Murder,\u201d the latest offering from renowned theater company Porchlight Music Theatre, features one of the most wickedly delightful premises I have ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,245,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-musical-theatre","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}