A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER Will Kick Off National Tour in September; Schedule Set!

The 2014 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, will launch its First National Tour in September 2015, producer Joey Parnes announced today. The tour route includes stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, and Toronto, among many other markets.

"Before finding its way to Broadway, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder was first discovered by wonderfully enthusiastic audiences at Hartford Stage and at the Old Globe in San Diego," director Darko Tresnjak said. "We are thrilled to take our production back on the road and to introduce the diabolical Monty Navarro and the hapless D'Ysquith family to theatergoers all over the U.S. and in Toronto."

It was recently announced that the Broadway production of Gentleman's Guide has recouped its entire $7.5 million capitalization. The most celebrated musical of the 2013-14 Broadway season, Gentleman's Guide received a leading ten 2014 Tony Award nominations, eventually winning four awards: Best Musical, Direction of a Musical, Book of a Musical, and Best Costume Design. In addition, it won the Best Musical prizes from the Drama League, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle, and received a 2015 Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Show Album. The Broadway production holds the house records at the Walter Kerr Theatre for both the highest single-week gross ($1,062,740.60 over eight performances on the week ending December 28, 2014) and total cumulative gross, which now stands at more than $52 million. Gentleman's Guide opened at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre to overwhelming critical acclaim on Sunday, November 17, 2013.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder First National Tour Schedule is as follows:

DATES CITY VENUE

9/19/15 - 9/26/15 Schenectady, NY Proctors Theatre

9/29/15 - 10/11/15 Chicago, IL Bank of America Theatre

10/13/15 - 10/18/15 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center

10/20/15 - 10/25/15 Tampa, FL Straz Center

11/3 /15- 11/15/15 Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square

11/17/15 - 11/22/15 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Theater

12/1/15 - 12/27/15 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Theatre

1/5/16 - 1/10/16 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre

1/13/16 - 1/30/16 Washington, D.C. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

2/2/16 - 2/7/16 Des Moines, IA Des Moines Civic Center

2/9/16 - 2/14/16 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre

2/16/16 - 2/28/16 Denver, CO Buell Theatre

3/1/16 - 3/6/16 Salt Lake City, UT Kingsbury Hall

3/8/16 - 3/13/16 Las Vegas, NV The Smith Center for Performing Arts

3/15/16 - 3/20/16 Tempe, AZ ASU Gammage

3/22/16 - 5/1/16 Los Angeles, CA Ahmanson Theatre

5/4/16 - 5/15/16 Houston, TX Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

5/18/16 - 6/26/16 Toronto, ON Royal Alexandra Theatre

7/12/16 - 7/31/16 Seattle, WA The 5th Avenue Theatre

Gentleman's Guide tells the uproarious story of Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a family fortune who sets out to jump the line of succession, by any means necessary. All the while, he's got to juggle his mistress (she's after more than just love), his fiancée (she's his cousin but who's keeping track?), and the constant threat of landing behind bars! Of course, it will all be worth it if he can slay his way to his inheritance... and be done in time for tea. The Hollywood Reporter raves, "Gentleman's Guide restores our faith in musical comedy" and The New York Times calls it "Hilarious!" and cheers, "it will lift the hearts of all those who've been pining for what sometimes seems a lost art form." Time Out New York declares, "Gentleman's Guide is the undisputed king of musical comedy!"

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder features a book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak. Direction is by Darko Tresnjak, with choreography by Peggy Hickey. The design team includes Alexander Dodge (Scenic Design), Linda Cho (Costume Design), Philip S. Rosenberg (Lighting Design), Dan Moses Schreier (Sound Design), Aaron Rhyne (Projections Design), and Charles LaPointe (Wig Design). Orchestrations are by Jonathan Tunick and Vocal Arrangements are by Dianne Adams McDowell and Steven Lutvak. Paul Staroba serves as Music Director.

Photo by Joan Marcus