A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, a Tony-award winning musical comedy, was produced at the Festival during the 2025 season in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.
In 1907, Roy Horniman published a fictional novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. In 2013, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder––based on Israel Rank––opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre with book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak.
Roy Horniman - author of Israel Rank
Horniman was a British playwright and novelist born in 1868. Active mostly during the Edwardian era, he was known for short stories and novels, along with plays and dramatic adaptations of novels and plays by other authors. Later, after World War I, Horniman began writing screenplays.
Other fun facts about the author include:
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When he was 13, his mother confiscated a novel that he had written.
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Horniman was born in Southsea, Hampshire, and passed away in Notting Hill, London.
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Along with being a writer, Horniman was devoted to animals, particularly regarding the care and protection of working horses.
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His book Israel Rank not only inspired A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, but the 1949 comedy film Kind Hearts and Coronets featuring Alec Guinness.
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Horniman’s real name was Robert, but he called himself ‘Roy’ when he began his acting career in 1887.
Robert Freedman - book and lyrics
An American screenwriter, Freedman is best known for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001). He worked with Steven Lutvak not only on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder but on the book for the musical Campaign of the Century. He wrote the book and lyrics to a musical version of Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was also inspired by Israel Rank.
Five more facts about Freedman include:
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In high school, he was the editor of the school newspaper.
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After attending University of California, Los Angeles, Freedman received a Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing and Musical Theatre Writing from New York University.
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In 1994, he won the Writers Guild of America Award for the movie A Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story.
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He won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
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In 2001, Freedman was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries for Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadow.
Steven Lutvak - music and lyrics
Lutvak was an American composer, best known for his work for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical.
Additional facts about the composer include:
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Lutvak was born in the Bronx and died in Manhattan of a pulmonary embolism in 2023.
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His musical Alfred Hitchcock Presents premiered in Bath in March 2025, posthumously.
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The composer attended Binghamton University for his bachelor’s degree in music. He graduated in 1983 from the Tisch School of the Arts with a graduate degree in musical theatre writing.
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He released his own album, The Time it Takes.
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Lutvak married Director Michael McGowan in 2015, known for his films Saint Ralph, One Week, and Still Mine. The New York Times wrote an article on their relationship, titled A Love That Survived Broadway.
