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With “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” director Lee Ann Payne and the Palo Alto Players’ company have concocted a production that is brilliantly theatrical, beautifully musical and belly-laugh hilarious. The bonus is getting to see a bunch of toxic rich people buy the farm, which these days is vastly therapeutic.
The setup for this musical by Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman centers around Monty Navarro (Andrew Cope), an ambitious young Edwardian Englishman who is mourning the passing of his mother. A mysterious woman (Sarah Jebian) knocks at the door and informs him that his mother was a member of the wealthy D’Ysquith clan. She was disowned for marrying for love over station. Monty writes to his newly discovered family to inquire about a job but is immediately rejected and denied.
Adding to Monty’s anxiety is Sibella Hallward (Brenna Silva), who adores Monty but has ruled out a future with him. In fact, she freely describes her dates with wealthy men, oblivious to his feelings. Monty does a little math and realizes he’s only a handful of D’Ysquiths away from having the family fortune all to himself, and thereby a shot with Sibella.
One of the show’s central conceits is having one actor play (almost) every single D’Ysquith. In “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” the 1949 film based on the same Roy Horniman novel that inspired this show, these duties fell to Alec Guinness. Here, these roles are taken on by Brandon Savage, with side-splitting results.
It’s hard to pick a favorite among Savage’s creations, but certainly the pivotal D’Ysquith is Lord Adalbert, Eighth Earl of Highhurst. Adalbert is an utter loon, who engages in hateful but slightly erotic arguments with his wife, Eugenia (Alea Selburn), while brandishing a variety of weapons. His introduction number, “I Don’t Understand the Poor,” is a gem of silver-spoon cluelessness, backed by singing ancestral portraits. Another favorite is Henry D’Ysquith, who joins Monty in the sublimely innuendo’d “Better With a Man,” before receiving the tragic news that the handsome young stranger is actually his cousin.
Cope does a remarkable job of convincing us to root for him — even though, in a certain light, technically speaking, he could be seen as a serial killer. It doesn’t hurt that he has a gorgeous, free-floating tenor, best exhibited in his tribute song, “Sibella.”
Another charming presence is Chesney Evert as Phoebe D’Ysquith, who has managed to distill the family eccentricity into an irresistible incarnation. She is kind and beautiful, but it also seems that she might not be of this planet. Evert also has an excellent soprano, which serves to accentuate the Gilbert & Sullivan aspects of Steven Lutvak’s score. This comes through in “I’ve Decided to Marry You,” during which Sibella and Phoebe sing matching phrases in tight harmony as Monty works frantically to keep them in separate rooms.
That sort of physical humor supplies most of the laughs, especially in the various death throes of Savage’s D’Ysquiths. (Not to give anything away, but watch for sprays of ice water and a tribute to Hitchcock.) Subtler but certainly more mesmerizing are the two act-openers by the backing ensemble, who perform small, precise movements and sublime vocals laced with sardonic lyrics (“Dying is a very distasteful way of showing off.”). Director Payne, also listed as choreographer, must have drilled these scenes for hours.
Patrick Klein’s set is an ingenious creation, centered on a play-within-a-play proscenium with its own curtain. This allows Monty to narrate from the forward space (the present tense) while he relates his story. A few of the merry fatalities take place in the background, augmented by vivid projections.
The costumes by Raven M. Manalo are just one vintage stunner after another. My particular favorite was Phoebe’s sky-blue gown with a see-through drape outlined in sparkling ornaments. Manalo also had to facilitate Savage’s many costume changes, some of which seemed too rapid to be possible.
Lutvak’s score is an enjoyable melange of Gilbert & Sullivan and English music hall, tied together with more modern musical theater devices. He and Freedman made generous use of Modern Major General patter, which must leave their performers a little sore in the jaw. Lutvak, who died in 2023, was a voice coach to both director Payne and Sarah Jebian, who played Miss Shingle. Tony Gaitan and orchestra handled the music with aplomb, playing in an orchestra pit that has now become an orchestra cave. He also had time to hand Monty an ax, but that’s another story.
The Palo Alto Players stage “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” through Sept. 27, Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto; $24-$70; 650-329-0891, paplayers.org.
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