Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...I appreciate the craft of the show, especially Tresnjak's superb direction and the exceptionally clever design, which manages to use digitized environments for fun and profit without scuppering the essential Edwardian essence of the whole silly thing. The ensemble is stellar, especially Mary VanArsdel, a comedic talent of the old school, and Kristen Beth Williams. Massey is quite the handsome, lovable fellow and pleasingly elliptical. Unlike some of the tertiary tours that come through town, this all-new one is union-approved, fresh, tight and generally every bit as good as the show on Broadway, which is soon to close."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” is pure delicious fun, a superbly crafted musical that, in its sparkling inaugural national touring incarnation, is being delivered with the greatest panache. There is a reason this musical, playing for just two weeks at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, received four 2014 Tony Awards, including best musical."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Part of the pleasure is that everything is just so darned comme il faut. Kevin Massey is perfectly charming as the fatally ambitious lad, John Rapson perfectly ridiculous as the fatalities. The supporting cast is strong, the design elements are sharp, and-most important-the homicides are droll."
Time Out Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...An original musical not based on a known property and written by Broadway first-timers, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder was a bit of an underdog when it beat the Carole King jukebox bio Beautiful and Disney’s stage adaptation of Aladdin for the 2014 Tony Award for best musical. But with its national tour kicking off in Chicago, this light, delightful comedy proves a worthy winner."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Broadway in Chicago has kicked off its 2015-16 season with a winner; the long anticipated, multiple Tony-Award winning musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. The opening night of the show had an electricity of anticipation in the air and this show did not disappoint; in fact people were cheering long after the curtain call. With its overall stellar quality it actually felt like Broadway has come to Chicago with a flawless winner of a show."
Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended
"...Broadway in Chicago's presentation of the U.S. tour makes a too-brief visit (closing October 11) to the appropriately ornate Bank of America Theatre (the tour continues through July, 2016). Delightfully directed by Darko Tresnjak, Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is performed on Alexander Dodge's elaborate proscenium pop-up stage: Its deft prop changes and astonishing projections set the skewering scenes with swift pictorial perfection. From his prison cell (he's perversely incarcerated for the one murder he didn't do), Monty Navarro-D'Ysquith (handsome devil Kevin Massey) regales us with his memoirs: Flashbacks depict the not so dark doings on the storybook stage."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder is a tightly woven mystery musical comedy that is flawlessly staged with even the smallest detain cleverly designed and superbly executed. The laughs abound, the dripping satire is smartly presented and the general silliness in the British tradition works marvelously. I was so blown away by the creative skill and the perfect execution of the scenes to garner all the comic elements contained that I declared that A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder is an instant classic – that it belongs on my list of the 25 Greatest Musical of All-Time as #26! I can’t recall seeing a more captivating Musical since The Producers. This is a "must see" show."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...I love a good old fashion musical comedy! It is truly an art form unto itself and the current Broadway In Chicago production of the Tony Award winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder”, now on the stage at The Bank of America Theatre is exactly what we need!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...There's so much to recommend in this wonderful, waggish and whimsical production. There's romance, intrigue, lovely songs and beautiful sets and costumes. The pace is energetic and Darko Tresnjak's spot-on direction never lets down. With a cast of theatrical artists at the top of their game, this much lauded musical is simply a night of finely-honed comedy, with a capital C."
Huffington Post - Highly Recommended
"...It's been a long time since a show has charmed me as much as Gentleman. And this first-rate national tour, which is playing at the Bank of America Theatre through October 11, offers a night of frivolity, deadpan humor and surprising sophistication -- particularly in the faux-operatic score by Robert L. Freedman (lyrics) and Steven Lutvak (music and lyrics)."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Recommended
"...The show rides highest when Monty whacks the family members who block his way to the earldom. Unfortunately, too much of the show is devoted to the man’s love life, specifically his relations with a flirtatious and materialistic young woman named Sibella and his wide-eyed ingénue of a cousin, Phoebe D’Ysquith. Their scenes produce much radiant singing, including a trio called “I’ve decided to Marry You” that is the evening’s showstopper."
Splash Magazine - Recommended
"...This silly little musical farce is the most fun I've had watching a musical in a long time, and that includes the over-hyped "Book of Mormon". While both the plot and music are unoriginal, and hardly the groundbreaking show it was made out to be, it's nevertheless a crafty, humorous, and even refreshing take on an old-school form that's been cleverly re-worked for a new generation. The direction is impeccable, the set is smart, and the talented cast is incredible. John Rapson's excellent take on the eight different victims in this show is worth the price of admission itself. My only real complaint is that it deserves a much longer run in the city than two weeks."