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Last night the non equity tour of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder opened in Thousand Oaks for a brief weekend stay thanks to Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and Theater League. And what a riot it was! If you recall, I absolutely loved the great equity tour that came through LA last year but wow this show was tremendous too with an A+ cast, all the same terrific sets and costumes and projections and fabulous direction from tour director Peggy Hickey.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder won the 2014 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design. They also won the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Projection Design (Aaron Rhyne). And after seeing last week’s opening night performance I am convinced each of those awards was well deserved.
What makes the tour so incredible has to be the fresh and talented cast led by Blake Price as Monty and James Taylor Odom as the D’ysquith Family. And there was not a weak member of the cast! Ensemble member Kristen Antoinette Kane‘s turn as Miss Shingle helped introduce the plot to the audience with her A+ comedic timing, hilarious voices and flat out sensational singing sure set the bar high for the rest of the cast and boy did they deliver. Price and Odom were both on point 100% of the time with great chemistry, fabulous comedic timing and sublime solos such as Act II “Sibella”. Their leading ladies (Colleen McLaughlin and Erin McIntyre) sang like angels, in particular Ms. McIntyre whom is just now making her U.S. Debut after performing in Europe. I would have paid good money to see Ms. McIntye’s Christine Daae.
The cast truly seemed deserving of the standing ovation they received last night at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza where they are performing through Sunday. I just regret that not all the jokes seemed to be comprehended and appreciated by the audience and yes the crude humor remains and seemed even more awkward the second time. Oh well. If you are concerned about the quality because of the fact it is a non equity tour, the only weakness I found to be was that there was a very sparse orchestra. But thankfully there were at least some professional musicians unlike that ghastly Ragtime tour that used prerecorded music. Only 5 more performances in Thousand Oaks before heading to El Paso!
Age Appropriateness: 13+, thematic elements and some crude humor
Disclaimer: I had my ticket comped for review purposes but all opinions are my own.
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