Arvada Center production features a breakout performance by Marco Robinson in the absurd musical comedy.

After taking in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder at the Arvada Center opening weekend, I was thinking it might be time to add a “Best Athlete” category to our annual theatre awards. The first one would surely go to Marco Alberto Robinson, whose high-speed performance in Gentleman’s follows a similarly energetic turn as a frisky gynecologist in 2024’s Waitress — also at Arvada — not to mention his 2023 sprint in The 39 Steps at the Denver Center.

In this production of Gentleman’s, director Geoffrey Kent makes the most of that Thalian stamina along with a similarly game cast in a production of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy that shows off many of the Arvada Center’s strengths. Great set? Check (Matthew Crane). Fabulous period costumes? Check (Kevin Copenhaver with Diana Ben-Kiki on hair and wig design). All-around whiz-bang lights and sound (Shannon McKinney and Max Silverman, respectively). Yep.

As the story goes, ambitious but broke Monty Navarro learns from a mysterious woman named Miss Shingle (Sharon Kay White) that he’s a distant relative of a fancy-pants English family called the D’Ysquiths. Finding he’s eighth in line for an earldom, Monty doesn’t sit around moping and hoping for a King Ralph-style disaster. No, he sets out to ensure the demise of all those in front of him through a series of murders meant to look like accidents.

Through a series of clever but mostly forgettable songs, the action plays out as Monty juggles his evil scheme with a pair of love interests. One is Sibella, beautifully played by Adriane Leigh Robinson (yes relation). Sibella is his initial love interest, but until he can get to that earldom, she’s more interested in wealthier prospects. The other is a DYsquith he meets later named Phoebe (Katie Jackson) who, he figures, he may as well go for as a potential countess when he gets his earldom. Jackson is also a delight, particularly in a hilariously farcical scene where Monty juggles the two women between adjoining rooms.

Shabazz Green plays many D’Ysquiths in the show. | Photo: Amanda Tipton Photography

Playing multiple D’Ysquith roles is Shabazz Green, who has a field day running about, dying, changing costumes, dying again … you get the picture. Green is very funny but it’s occasionally challenging to differentiate between the characters — all of whom seem to communicate with stentorian vigor.

Backing it all up is a powerful ensemble playing a variety of backup roles and bringing to life the unique, highly symmetrical choreography by Grady Soapes.

Gentleman’s is a truly ridiculous show with a wholly implausible plot, wildly over-the-top characters and situations all set against the backdrop of British formality and pomp. It sets itself apart from other musical comedies with its ambitious lean into absurdity, and Kent does an excellent job managing the whole thing as the comedic-musical farce it is.

The precise details of who, exactly, all these D’Ysquiths are and the circumstances around their deaths (and in one case, seeming resurrection) are tangential to the immediate action on stage that keeps the audience continuously engaged. As such, it’s a show that never wears out its welcome despite its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. It might be a bit racy for the under-12 set, but otherwise it’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this one, another beautifully produced musical from the Arvada Center.

Ensemble members Jeremy Rill, Katie Drinkard and Jason Rexx. | Photo: Amanda Tipton Photography