A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder -- December 16, 2015

www.agentlemansguidebroadway.com

On December 5, we went to the Golden Gate Theater to see A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, a musical by Robert L Freedman and Steven Lutvak.  It was a cold dark night and we encountered heavy traffic on the 280 Extension.  Sixth Street was crammed with cars.  We went over to Fifth on Folsom and found it was crowded, too.  When we got towards Fifth and Mission, we saw a sign on the corner of the garage saying that it was full.  My wife and daughter consulted their smart phones and one suggested Ellis/O'Farrell.  We kept going on Fifth and Fifth Street North to O'Farrell and got to the garage.  They were doing valet parking to fit more cars.

We had dinner at Boudin's in the basement of Macy's and then walked over to the Golden Gate.  There was a big line the block before Taylor, but I figured it was for the Warfield. 

There was a good crowd.  We were surprised that there were children there.

The show was inspired by Arsenic and Old Lace.  The writers could not get the rights, so they went to the original novel.

There was a nice flexible set with a stage within the stage.  Character names were changed.  The main character was Monty Navarro, played by Kevin Massey and the aristocratic family was called D'Ysquith.  John Rapson does the Alec Guiness part, playing the eight members of the family who die, and one surprise member.  Sibella, played by Kristen Beth Williams, kept her name.  She is not Joan Greenwood, but she looked good and sang very well.

We were happy we went.