Bill Hirschman

Today, we have a guest blogger—Bill Hirschman who occasionally has written about theater for Mystery Scene.

A former newspaper reporter, Bill is the publisher, editor and chief critic for Florida Theater on Stage (floridatheateronstage.com), an online journalism arts publication.

He’s also my husband, which is how I persuaded him to include one of his reviews on our blog.

According to Bill, “A critic’s trip to New York City to overdose on theater is like taking a semester’s worth of object lessons for both audience members and theatrical professionals.”

Sublime Silliness: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love And Murder

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If you’re planning to go to New York in the near future, do it before the Tony Awards because one of the funniest, most inventive shows since The Book of Mormon is just hanging on at the box office and likely won’t survive past awards season.

This musical by people you’ve never heard of (Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak) directed by someone you’ve never heard of (Darko Tresnjak) is a dryly witty spoof of Edwardian/Dickensian plots about likable young men trying to rise from poverty to wealth by dint of pure pluck and intelligence.

In this case, the handsome young man (played by the callow Bryce Pinkham) discovers he is the disavowed bastard son of a wealthy lord and could inherit his estate – except there are seven relatives with more proximate call on the fortune. So the enterprising young man sets out to murder everyone in his path – with aplomb and style, of course. Pinkham is also inspired by his pursuit of the snobbish money-worshiping socialite Sibella (Lisa O’Hare) and the seemingly virginal cousin Phoebe (Lauren Worsham).

It borrows its plot from a 1907 novel that also inspired the 1949 British comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. In both the film and this show, all of the stumbling blocks are played by the same actor, Alec Guinness on film and here on stage gloriously and profligately portrayed by Jefferson Mays, left. Mays, many of you know, has serious roles to his credit such as Journey’s End, but his fame comes from playing dozens of characters in I Am My Own Wife.

Here he has an absolute field day playing a snotty scion, a doddering old lady, a dissolute clergymen, a hapless do-gooder among others. Each has a unique bearing and physical appearance, but all of them share that slightly demented gleam in Mays’ eyes. To belie what we said about irreplaceable actors, certainly other actors can play this part(s), but it’s hard to imagine anyone else whose scene-munching skill could be as contagious and joyously fun as he and the creative team mercilessly skewer the dissolute, callous and clueless upper class.

It is nearly impossible to relate just how perfectly the creative team lampoons the fantasy of a stiff upper lip, high-buttoned English society being undermined by the conscienceless ambition of someone with no regard for the calcified straitjacket of Britain’s turn-of-the-century social strata. The score echoes the English music hall via Gilbert and Sullivan; the lyrics and script bow to Oscar Wilde.

When our hero pursues the social climber, he asks, “Sibella, has it ever occurred to you to marry for love?” To which she responds, “Don’t be cruel.”

The whole thing is imaginatively stage in a faux toy theater with Edward Gorey overtones.

Mays’ performance and the opulent production values make it a don’t miss stop in New York over the next two months before it’s too late.

Oddly, and here’s the lesson, it may be too smart for mainstream audiences. Easily the most acclaimed musical to open to date, it’s only selling three-quarters of its seats. There’s no accounting for taste among tasteless tourists.

Coming Soon To A Theater Near You Part 1: Murder For Two

Imagine a comic mystery musical spoof with just two actors doubling as the entire orchestra and playing even more roles than the aforementioned Mr. Mays, all created on a postage stamp of a stage in a small house with a modest amount of lights, sound and set costs. In other words, this is catnip to a small local theater.

This quite cute and maniacally kinetic two-hander by Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair is made for small theaters whose troupes boast a couple of chameleonic clowns and an inventive director.

Still running in New York through mid-summer, the mothership production stars the Mutt and Jeff team of Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback under Scott Schwartz’s direction.

Essentially, it’s one of those tweedy English mysteries with a forthright detective played by one actor and a manse-full of suspects played by the other actor – although both play the piano to accompany the songs and both occasionally play each other’s parts. The thing is batty and punny fun invoking every hoary cliché in the canon including a shelf that just happens to hold all of the weapons used the in the board game Clue and even having a real light bulb go off over someone’s head when he gets a bright idea.

Like the two men who change characters in a nano-second in The Thirty-Nine Steps, these two slip in and out of different personas and voices with a contortionist’s speed and grace.

We’re taking bets on how long will it take before this hits regional theaters across the country. Pick a month within the next season.

Photo: Jefferson Mays in one of his characters in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

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