Award-winning Broadway musical comedy A Gentleman’s Guide toLove and Murder in Kentucky for the first time

Published 9:02 am Tuesday, November 7, 2017

NORTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS

News release

Getting away with murder can be so much fun — and there’s no better proof than the knock-em-dead hit show that’s earned unanimous raves and won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical. The hit comedy “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” will go up at Norton Center for the Arts Wednesday. 

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Direct from New York, where a most gentlemanly NPR critic said he’d “never laughed so hard at a Broadway Musical,” “Gentleman’s Guide” tells the uproarious story of Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a family fortune who sets out to jump the line of succession by — you guessed it — eliminating the eight pesky relatives (all played by one fearless man) who stand in his way. All the while, Monty must juggle his mistress (she’s after more than just love), his fiancée (she’s his cousin but who’s keeping track?), and the constant threat of landing behind bars! Of course, it will all be worth it if he can slay his way to his inheritance… and be done in time for tea.

“This is the second consecutive season that the Norton Center presents the central Kentucky debut of a ‘Best Musical of the Year’ Tony Award winner,” said Steve Hoffman, Executive Director of the Norton Center. “What’s not to love more than a good ole fashioned farce filled with wicked deception, slapstick humor and, of course, murder?”

With 10 Tony nominations and four wins, including Best Musical, Book, Direction and Costumes, it also earned seven Drama Desk Awards (including Best Musical), four Outer Critics Circle Awards (including Best Musical) and one Drama League Award (Best Musical). 

When the low-born Monty finds out that he’s eighth in line for an earldom in the lofty D’Ysquith family, he figures his chances of outliving his predecessors are slight and sets off down a far more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught and become the second Earl of Highhurst? And what of love? Because murder isn’t the only thing Monty’s mind…. 

“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” is a murderous romp filled with unforgettable music, non-stop laughs and a scene-stealing role for one actor playing all eight of the doomed heirs who meet their ends in the most creative and side-splitting ways.

IF YOU GO 

“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” will be presented 7:30 p.m. at Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Nov. 8  in Newlin Hall. Tickets, priced at $75, $56, and $39, are available at www.NortonCenter.com or by calling the box office at (859) 236-4692.