I got in line at 8:00am to rush this show on Wednesday morning, and there were at least 20 people ahead of me in line already. So while the sister and I waited, we sent mom to TKTS. As soon as we made our way into the box office, mom had already gotten tickets at the TKTS booth. So we paid more than we would've if rush was successful, but figured it won the Tony so we'd be getting our money's worth.
This is not my kind of musical. I'm just gonna throw that out there right now. Go back and read other reviews here... you'll get to know what I like and what I don't. It's not that I can't appreciate this style, it's just not what I'm drawn to. I tend to like my plays with more of a slapstick and comedy of errors type feel, and my musicals dark and edgy with heavy music.
Gentleman's Guide was traditional American musical theater. Deserving of the Best Musical Tony Award? Yes. Absolutely.
It was cast perfectly. I couldn't imagine a better group of actors to put on this piece.
Bryce Pinkham has the greatest facial expressions. I've seen him onstage a few times, but the last show I saw him in was Ghost and there he had that evil but unassuming thing going on. So clearly he's pretty darn good at playing the bad guy that comes off like a good guy. He was very funny both to listen to and watch, and wow is he light on his feet.
Jefferson Mays plays an entire family of characters and each character transitions smoothly into the next. Since I knew that Mays had played a role that required him to transform into multiple characters at the drop of a hat before, I had high expectations. They were definitely met.
There's not much to complain about when it comes to the acting or the singing. Just because the music didn't excite me doesn't mean I didn't think it was fantastic. For such a small cast the ensemble numbers were powerful. I spaced out once or twice and there was one song that was just odd and seemed unnecessary even though it was a good song ("Sibella"). There is no huge showstopping number, but there are songs that are more popular than others for sure.
Overall, I had a lot of fun at Gentleman's Guide. There were two times that I absolutely cracked up and fell over in my seat. Anyone who has seen a show with me can tell you I don't outwardly express my feelings very often at shows. A friend told me I was in for a "real treat" with Gentleman's Guide, and I agree. It was a treat. Two and a half hours of good, fun, traditional musical theater.
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