Notes On The Writing of A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder (Applause Books) will be available for purchase online and at select stores. From the publisher’s description: The most frequently asked question about writing musicals is, ‘Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?’ As anyone on Broadway will tell you, the answer is, ‘The book.’ Tony-winning book writer Robert L. Freedman takes you through the process of writing a new musical, including story structure, song placement, dialogue, character development, and more that led to the creation of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Best Musical Tony winner. With candor and insight, Freedman describes the challenging and rewarding growing pains of what the critics called ‘Hilarious!’ and ‘Ingenious!’ and said ‘Ranks among the most inspired and entertaining new musical comedies I’ve seen in years.’
From the back cover: “Robert L. Freedman draws back the curtain on the mysterious process of creating a musical, takes you by the hand, and leads you through it all with clarity and insight. If you’re interested in writing a musical, or just interested in musicals, this guide is for you.” Winnie Holzman, book writer of Wicked.
The ABC/Wonderful World of Disney Emmy-winning television event, written by Robert L. Freedman, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) premiered on Disney+ February 12, 2021 to great acclaim. Starring Whitney Houston, Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, Natalie Desselle, Veanne Cox, and Paolo Montalban, Cinderella was produced by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Debra Martin Chase, and Whitney Houston, and directed by Rob Iscove, with choreography by Rob Marshall. The movie premiered to an audience of over 60 million, unheard of in this day and age, and garnered Robert a Writers Guild Award nomination for his teleplay.
The creative team includes Alexander Dodge (Set Design), Linda Cho (Costumes), Philip Rosenberg (Lighting), Aaron Rhyne (Projection Design), and Charles LaPointe (Hair Design), all part of the Tony-winning team of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Joining them are Peter Hylenski (Sound), Bruce Coughlin (Orchestrations), and Thomas Murray (Music Director).
The 2014 Tony winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, opened in a lavish production at the Hongik Daehangno Art Center in Seoul, South Korea, on December 19, 2018. The Korean language production based on Robert L. Freedman’s Tony winning Book, and Tony nominated Score (Music by Steven Lutvak, Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak).
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder opened at Oscars Theatre (Oscarsteatern) January 25, 2018 in a Swedish language production, for a three-month run, starring celebrated comic actor Henrik Dorsen. A Gentleman’s Guide won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical, and three other Tonys, including Best Book of a Musical (Robert L. Freedman).
Since the invention of American musical theater, lyricists seeking a rhyme for “love” have been stuck with just a few wan possibilities, including “dove,” “above,” the odd “glove” and the truly desperate “shove.” So, first, let me congratulate Robert L. Freedman for conscripting “mazel tov” to the cause, in a doozy of a song called “The Cookie Crumbles.”
Creative Team: Alexander Dodge (Set Design). Linda Cho (Costumes). Philip Rosenberg (Lighting). Peter Hylenski (Sound). Aaron Rhyne (Projection Design). Charles LaPointe (Hair Design). Bruce Coughlin (Orchestrations). Thomas Murray (Music Director).
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the Tony winning Best Musical of 2014, opened in Shanghai, China, on December 15, 2017, in a Mandarin language adaption of Robert L. Freedman’s Tony winning book and Tony nominated score (Music by Steven Lutvak, Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak).
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Tony-winning Best Musical, has announced the full cast and dates for the upcoming 2017-18 National Tour. James Taylor Odom will play eight D’Ysquith heirs and Blake Price will play Monty Navarro. The cast includes Colleen McLaughlin as Sibella Hallward, and Erin McIntyre as Phoebe D’Ysquith. Direction is by Darko Tresnjak, choreography by Peggy Hickey. The tour will begin with performances at Clemens Center in Elmira, New York, September 27-28, and conclude in Butte, Montana on May 13, 2018, with stops across North America along the way.
The first international production (outside of North America) of the 2014 Tony-winning Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder opened in Tokyo, in Japanese, in April, 2017 in a spectacular production at the Nissay Theatre, with runs in Kyoto and Osaka to follow. Robert L. Freedman wrote the Tony-winning Book, and the Tony-nominated Score is by Steven Lutvak (Music) and Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (Lyrics).
