Choosing a Broadway play was easy. I picked the one with “murder” in the title.
Back in March, my wife and I looked up the list of shows that were likely to be playing in June. Popular shows like Wicked and Chicago caught my wife’s attention. I asked her if she would like to try a newer show, specifically A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. We watched one clip online and were sold immediately.
At the time, seats in the balcony were only $35 each. We bought tickets for June 7, which was the night before the Tony Awards. Naturally we were thrilled when the show received ten Tony nominations. It won four awards including Best Musical.
I am positive that Jefferson Mays made eye contact with me during the song “I Don’t Understand the Poor,” although he didn’t realize it. While playing Lord Adalbert D’Ysquith, the actor was staring directly into the cheap seats and I was staring directly back through my inexpensive binoculars.
After the show, we waited by the stage door with other fans. Jefferson Mays, Bryce Pinkham, Lisa O’Hare and Joanna Glushak graciously signed autographs and posed for photos. My wife had “a moment” with Mays as she passed him our Playbills to sign. There were four people in our group. After the fourth autograph, he looked at her as if to ask, “is that it?” My wife joked that she wanted him to sign one more for the dog. In case you’re wondering, we don’t have a dog.
Mays plays multiple members of the D’Ysquith family. We wondered how he managed all the unbelievably quick costume changes. The next night on the Tony telecast, he showed the world how it’s done.
