Review: Exquisite Lunacy in A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER at the Hippodrome

It's a night of devilishly good entertainment at the Hippodrome with A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER. Sumptuous sets and pitch-perfect performances combine with catchy tunes and witty lyrics for a marvelous mix of high-class high jinks.

First produced in 1919, the plot remains remarkably fresh and funny. At his mother's funeral, an eccentric old housekeeper, Miss Shingle (Mary VanArsdel), appears to inform poor Monty Navarro (Kevin Massey) that he is actually an Edwardian aristocrat. He is ninth in line for the title of Earl of Highhurst, but the family D'Ysquith disinherited his mother for marrying for love and to a Castilian no less.

Charming, mild-mannered Monty develops a taste for murder partly due to vengeance and partly due to unrequited love for the gorgeous, self-absorbed Sibella (Kristen Beth Williams), who claims to love Monty but is marrying another to climb up the social ladder. When the genetically strange D'Ysquiths (all played by John Rapson) scoff at Monty's claim to his inheritance, he decides to take fate into his own hands. Here starts the parade of rapscallions, buffoons, rogues, racey ladies, spacey ladies, and clueless inspectors who Monty dispatches on the way to his goal.

Rapson is an extraordinary quick-change artist as he transforms from one D'Ysquith to another without missing a beat, a note or the rapt attention of the audience. From buck-toothed Reverend to scooter lover Henry to grandiose Lady Hyacinth to pompous Lord Adalbert to all other members of the crazy clan, it's a tour de force performance of a fantastic farce.

Kevin Massey never loses audience sympathy as he turns from hapless young pauper to efficient exterminator of upper-class snobs. He is an absolute delight in the number "I've Decided to Marry You" along with the ravishing Sibella and beauteous Phoebe (Kristin Hahn). Williams and Hahn are custom-made as the two corners of a love triangle that manages to be sexy, sweet and silly all at once.

Darko Tresnjak's superb direction along with the elaborate choreography by Peggy Hickey is expertly executed by this splendid cast and crew. It's a feast for the eyes and ears served up with all the wacky weirdness of the gilded age.

THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER plays now thru January 1st,2017 at the Hippodrome, located at 12 N. Eutaw St. For tickets, call 800-982-2787 or go online www.ticketmaster.com

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