Millikin’s own School of Theatre & Dance premiered their mainstage production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on October 16th, and many might say it was one of their best shows to date.
The murder-comedy musical followed the character of Monty Navarro, played by Aidan Kostbade, as he discovers that he is eighth in line for an earldom, attempting to rise through the ranks of the infamous D’Ysquith family in order to become first.
The show was nothing short of fantastic, leaving audiences pleased with their afternoons and evenings filled with laughs and smiles as the actors graced the stage with their brilliance, their talent shining through their renditions of the humorous and chaotic characters. From curtain to close, the witty and chaos-filled lyrics made for a great performance.
Personally, one of my favorite songs was “Better with a Man,” which, as is obvious from the title, draws its humor from sexism, but in such a way that you can’t help but find it entirely comical. Another standout is “Poison in My Pocket,” which, when watched upon the stage, clearly exhibits the moral dilemmas and pure chaos throughout the entirety of the show.
The whole show featured humorous songs and laughable scenes. But no one made the audience laugh harder than junior commercial music major Lucas Finley, who played the entirety of the D’Ysquith family throughout the show.
“My favorite moment in the show was definitely the whole dinner sequence leading up to ‘Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun,’” Finley said. The song, an audience favorite and my personal favorite, was nothing short of comedy gold.
The scene featured Finley as one of the many D’Ysquiths, Lord Albert, running around the stage, climbing on the dinner table, and crawling around people’s feet. I can’t think of a moment throughout that scene where the audience was quiet, laughing hysterically at the disarray.
It’s worth noting how truly impressive it was to see Finley on stage playing eight different characters throughout the show and for there to be notable differences between each one.
“I think my favorite aspect about the show was just how versatile you have to be in order to play all nine characters,” he said. “It’s a very physically, vocally, and [energetically] demanding show.”
While Lucas Finley was a standout member of the cast, every other cast member did a wonderful job of bringing the show to the stage and of maintaining the comedic and chaotic energy necessary to captivate audience attention.
Throughout the weekend, the show was packed, often sold out, and it’s no secret as to why. The show did not disappoint, and neither did the cast.
From the brilliant ensemble support to the shining vocals from Sibella Hallward (Madison Leeder) and Phoebe D’Ysquith (Bella Birdsley), every moment left you awaiting more.
Hats off to the entire cast and crew involved in the production, whose commitment, dedication, versatility, and humor made for an amazing time.
