'Gentleman's Guide' tour launches at Bank of America Theatre
Actor Matt Leisy, a graduate of Northwestern University, got to experience some of the success of #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; firsthand. Not only did Leisy get to attend the musical's official opening night on Broadway, he's now cast in the national tour of #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; playing the supporting character Tom Copley, among other ensemble roles, and understudying one of the leading men.
#8220;I knew that it was something that was happening and that it was a miracle that it made it to Broadway,#8220; said Leisy, who first met #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; composer Steven Lutvak as a vocal coach years ago. #8220;Even though it's based on source material of a book and a film, it's not a straight-up adaptation of a recognizable 1980s film or a jukebox musical #8212; it's original.#8221;
#8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; is mainly based upon the 1949 British film #8220;Kind Hearts and Coronets,#8221; which in turn was inspired by Roy Horniman's 1907 comic novel #8220;Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal.#8221; The plot concerns an ambitious striver named Monty Navarro (Kevin Massey) who discovers that he is in the line of succession to a wealthy earldom. So Monty goes about bumping off members of the aristocratic D'Ysquith family so he can lay claim to the title and money.
The film notably starred future #8220;Star Wars#8221; actor Alec Guinness, who played all the imperiled members of the D'Ysquith family that Monty conspires to kill. That same casting device was also employed for #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...,#8221; which meant a whole series of quick-change stage costumes for original Tony Award-winning star Jefferson Mays and John Rapson for the tour.
#8220;Watching opening night, I was definitely aware that this was something special because it was so fun, smart and witty,#8221; Leisy said. #8220;I wasn't shocked when the reviews came out and were all great. Everyone was so happy at the opening night party.#8221;
But even with a slew of rave reviews, #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; initially struggled at the box office. Many predicted it would be lost in the shuffle of new musicals opening that season like #8220;Beautiful: The Carole King Story#8221; or other eagerly anticipated film-to-stage adaptations like #8220;Rocky,#8221; #8220;Aladdin#8221; and #8220;Bullets Over Broadway.#8221;
By the end of the season, #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; topped the Tony Awards with 10 nominations and four wins for Best Costumes by Linda Cho, Best Book of a Musical by Robert L. Freedman, Best Direction of a Musical for Darko Tesnjak and the all-important Best Musical.
The awards helped steer Broadway audiences to #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; and it became a financial hit in April 2015 when the production officially recouped its $7.5 million investment. Now hopes are high that the tour of #8220;A Gentleman's Guide ...#8221; will be equally successful.
#8220;We were told (by director Tesnjak) from day one that we were all cast for the tour for what special qualities we bring to the roles,#8221; Leisy said. #8220;It's nice to know that they're putting the show on us and we're not going to be just replicating exactly what was done before.#8221;
“A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder”
<b>Location:</b> Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or <a href="http://broadwayinchicago.com">broadwayinchicago.com</a>
<b>Showtimes:</b> Sept. 29 through Oct. 11: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday (also Sunday, Oct. 4), 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (also Wednesday, Oct. 7).
<b>Tickets:</b> $27-$115