A Guide to A Gentleman's Guide

On Sunday, I went to see the 2014 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, which is playing in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre.  The show is based on a little-known novel that was made into a far-better-known movie, Kind Hearts and Coronets, famous as one of Alec Guiness's tour-de-force performances, playing eight roles.  The black comedy tells the story of a young man who finds out he's been cheated out of his inheritance by a wealthy, prominent family and sets up to kill all eight members ahead of him.  (Guiness played all those eight, men and women alike.)

I enjoyed the show, but didn't find it nearly as wondrous as the audience did.  It has very clever staging, lively songs and very energetic performance, and is funnish.  But it's slight, and the songs are unmemorable.  I was trying to figure out why I didn't love it or at least like it more, and I think the best I can come up with is that it's not a story that cries out to be sung.  As a result, as spirited as some of the songs were, I almost found them intrusive to the goings-on.  To be clear, I had a good time and am glad I saw it.  But I'm glad I bought a Hot Tix, rather than full-price.  

There's one number that does leap out.  Not that it's a Great Song -- it's clever and fun, but I can't tell any of its words, other than the title.  But...it has terrific staging, sort of a French farce in one song, and easily got the loudest roar of cheers at the end.  As such, it's the number I've seen from the show that got presented the most on TV, notably the Tony Awards and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. .  And here it is from the Tony.

The number is introduced by Jefferson Mays, who got a Best Actor nomination that year (and likely would have won, if Neil Patrick Harris hadn't been nominated the same year.  His winning was a given).  Mays played the Alec Guiness part, performing all those many characters, and his introduction has fun with that.