GENTLEMEN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER -- Previews — Page 5

" three Shakespeares, Pinter, and Beckett" In five days? Your mother raised a sadist.

Caught Gentlemens Guide this evening, "mildly enjoyable", a phrase that I noticed has already been tossed around this thread in regards to the evening, is exactly how I described it to my room mate upon my return home. I appreciate the stab at a hearty, golden age style score, but the music consistently falls flat. The book is just as average as the score-I can count the times I merely chuckled throughout the night on one hand. I agree there was so much potential here, but the evening merely simmered as opposed to boil over the pot.

The performances are splendid, and certainly the saving grace of the show. Very happy to finally see Lauren Worsham and Lisa O'Hare grace the Great White Way-both are so very talented.

And the costumes! Oh the beautiful, beautiful costumes. They consistently held my interest, even when the show didn't.

If on the fence, I would skip this one folks.

I saw this last night, and I was pleasantly surprised. The performances were great, and I found myself laughing throughout. The score is nothing to write home about, but in a work like this I didn't find it too much of a detriment. Normally by default in a musical if I don't like the score I won't like the musical, but here the performances I think make up for the lack of a great score.

If I hate Gilbert and Sullivan (my apologies to the rest of the world) and find British Music Hall cute, but unbearable after 10 minutes, will I dislike this show? I sort of like the general idea, and I really like the idea of a new songwriting team getting a show on Broadway with an actor as major as Jefferson Mayes.

BTW, After Death, there's plenty of joy in your despised Sondheim musicals, and (to name two recent shows you bitched about...surprise, surprise!) FUN HOME, and especially, THE LANDING. Just because the harmonies aren't in root position and Gower Champion is unable to stage the shows doesn't mean they're dull, wet blankets, like most of us here are in your eyes. (PS: I find DEAR WORLD joyless and turgid, aside from some lovely ballads.)

In any event, I'd appreciate answers from both sides of the coin- those who didn't love it and those who did. There's a lot of I want to see (or think I want to see), and not enough money in my wallet.

Updated On: 11/8/13 at 10:05 PM

I went back to see the show again tonight and liked it more the second time around. I was singing strains of the different melodies down 9th Avenue and still haven't stopped as type now.

The biggest change is the opening number with the public hanging has been cut, and the show is A LOT better for it. That long prologue did nothing for the plot and now we are introduced to the murders 5 minutes sooner.

The scene with Monty discovering he was a D'Ysquith seemed shorter and more to the point.

My biggest relief came during "Foolish To Think" when Monty no longer climbed on top of the set. What a difference some staging makes, and this time I could actually concentrate on the song and not hold my breath praying I wasn't about to witness Bryce Pinkham's actual death on stage!

I really, really, really love the two women- especially Lisa O'Hare. I want the whole show to be just the two of them. O'Hare needs to be cast in an Encores version of The Girl Who Came to Supper ASAP; her Coconut Girl medley would bring down the house! Her upper register does indeed remind one of Florence Henderson's, and there's a slight growl in her speaking voice/lower register that conjures up Glynis Johns.

The act two trio is still the strongest moment of the show and easily got the most applause. In a battle between the love and the murder, the love handily trumps what the murder side of this show has to offer.

So, I wouldn't say I'm a complete convert, but it was better tonight and I will be going back again if for no other reason than hear O'Hare and Worsham gloriously fill a Broadway theater with their voices.

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I tend to agree with Michael Bennett's rather insightful assessment of the show (posted earlier in this thread), though I think he was being rather generous. I like G&S in limited doses, but I don't think there are that many parallels between their work and Gentleman's Guide anyway. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on this show. Some folks in this thread clearly found the show very charming and some of us found it bland, confused in tone and dissatisfying. Seems like it's one of those ones you'll just have to see for yourself. Luckily, discount tickets don't seem to be hard to get for this show, so I'd take advantage of that.

I saw this on Thursday night, and as I have been looking forward to it since I saw clips from the Hartford production, I was a bit worried that it would disappoint me....
It did not....far from it. Lisa O'Hare, Bryce Pinkham, and Lauren Worsham are now all performers that I will look forward to seeing in the future. Those are glorious voices and solid, solid performers. Jefferson Mays was delightful in almost every characterization...the 2 women that he played were not successful in my opinion. I was truly surprised that he seemed to be playing 'man in a dress' as opposed to 'female' with those two roles. But that is a small quibble when compared everything else that he nailed.
Loved the set, loved the costumes, and you can count me in the group that actually found the score delightful, memorable, and appropriate. Mark my words, when the cast recording comes out this score will have many more fans. The score in many ways reminded me of the score for DROOD and the complaints in this thread remind me of the criticisms of that show.
I encourage you to see this one and decide for yourself if you like it......for me it is definitely a season highlight.

"In all likelihood. Spend your money on seeing Fun Home again. That's more up your miserable alley.

And with respect to your comment on G &S, speaking for the rest of the world, apologies not accepted. Your statement sums up all we need to know about you."

Do you seriously have no filter on what it means to engage with other members of the human race in a public space, or can you simply not restrain yourself when the opportunity to offer a pretentious and dismissive response presents itself?

indytallguy: No. He doesn't. But he really thinks he does.

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I saw it tonight - packed house. I didn't see really any empty seats in the orchestra or mezz.

It was just an "eh" for me. I didn't hate it or love it. I laughed a few times. I wanted the comedy to be funnier. I liked Mays, but I didn't realize they were going to basically cram all those murders into the first Act and that each murder had to have it's own song. It got a little tiring.

Pinkham was fine, if a little more than bland. I found his voice beautiful, actually. I don't know why he sang so crazy nasally in Ghost and in the Park this summer, but his voice fits the music nicely.

The two woman are great, but I honestly don't see what all the raves are about. The trio in Act 2 was the best number though. They need to be doing that on all the television shows.

I suspect this will get decent reviews. The audience was eating it up.

The box office numbers indicate this has been heavily comped and discounted.

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Here's wishing it good whatnot.

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^ Best post ever.

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