EOU musical follows heir’s murderous climb to an earldom

A darkly comic rise to power takes center stage

Eastern Oregon University is betting that a wildly funny story about murder, class, and ambition can do serious educational work. *A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder* opens May 14 at EOU and brings a Broadway-born musical to Loso Hall, Schwarz Theatre in La Grande, where students are not just performing a tricky score and rapid-fire plot, but learning how a university arts program stays visible in Union County.

The premise is outrageous by design. Monty Navarro, a low-born man who learns he is eighth in line to the Earldom of Highhurst, decides the fastest way up the family tree is to remove the relatives standing in his way. That absurd climb is what gives the show its comic edge, and it is also what makes it such a demanding production for student actors and crew members trying to keep pace with a story that moves from romance to betrayal to arrest.

Monty’s climb is funny because it is so morally wrong

The musical follows Monty as he moves through his doomed family succession one relative at a time, a setup that makes the laughter land because the ambition is so brazen. Director Kenn Wheeler describes the work as a comedy, but the humor comes as much from the character’s moral collapse as from the love story that keeps getting in his way. Monty wants Sibella, the woman he loves, but her refusal to marry him because of his low status turns his romantic frustration into part of the larger class satire.

Phoebe, the sister of one of Monty’s intended victims, gives the story another layer of complication. She represents a different kind of future for him, which makes the show less like a simple caper and more like a pressure test for every choice he makes. By the end, Monty gets what he wants, then finds himself arrested for murder, which is exactly the sort of darkly comic payoff that keeps the story moving at full speed.

The cast turns the conceit into a live classroom

The rehearsal photos and cast notes offer a look at how EOU is staging that pace on campus. Zander Vandeman plays Monty Navarro, Madison Palmer appears as Miss Marietta Shingle, and Jadelynn Harris plays Sibella, giving the production a core trio that has to carry the show’s shifting emotional tone.

One of the most striking staging details is that one actor plays all eight doomed relatives. That choice sharpens the comedy and also raises the technical and performance stakes, because the same production must keep the audience tracking multiple family members while making the whole inheritance machine feel fast and precise. For students, that kind of challenge is exactly the sort of hands-on theater experience that builds discipline, timing, and adaptability.

Why the production matters beyond the footlights

This is where the story becomes more than an arts preview. EOU’s theater season gives students a live setting to practice performance, design, and backstage coordination in front of an audience, but it also gives Union County residents a reason to walk into Loso Hall and see the university as part of the county’s cultural life. In a place where small institutions often carry a disproportionate share of public programming, keeping a campus arts pipeline active matters.

That visibility has local value. When a university mounts a musical with a strong title, a recognizable premise, and accessible ticket pricing, it does more than fill seats. It invites families, alumni, and La Grande residents onto campus, builds habits of attendance, and reinforces the idea that higher education in Eastern Oregon is not only about classes and degrees, but also about the public life of the region.

The production also reflects a broader question of investment in local arts education. If students can only find polished performance opportunities far from home, communities like Union County lose out on the energy, talent, and audiences that a college theater can generate. EOU’s decision to stage a work like this keeps that pipeline visible and makes the case that a campus theater can still be a serious training ground.

A Broadway pedigree with local reach

The show’s national credentials help explain why it is a strong spring selection. The book and lyrics are by Robert L. Freedman, and the music and lyrics are by Steven Lutvak, giving the production a well-known creative backbone. EOU’s season page calls it a “murderous romp” filled with “unforgettable music” and “non-stop laughs,” which captures the tone without hiding how much craft it takes to land those laughs night after night.

That combination of polish and absurdity is part of the appeal for a campus audience. The musical’s structure demands quick character shifts, clean ensemble work, and a cast that can hold both satire and sincerity at once. For students, that is valuable training. For Union County, it is a reminder that live theater on campus can still feel current, ambitious, and worth the trip into La Grande.

What to know before the curtain rises

The production is part of Eastern Oregon University’s 2025-2026 theatre season and is scheduled for May 14-16 at 7:00 p.m., May 16 at 2:00 p.m., and May 18-19 at 7:00 p.m. All performances are listed for Loso Hall, Schwarz Theatre in La Grande, Oregon.

Ticket listings show admission ranging from $0.00 to $17.00 with fees, making the run accessible to a wide local audience. For a university production, that pricing matters: it lowers the barrier for families, students, and community members who might otherwise pass on a live performance. It also gives the production a practical role in the county’s cultural calendar, one that reaches beyond the theater department itself.

EOU’s new musical asks audiences to laugh at a man who murders his way toward a title, but its deeper value is less cynical than the plot suggests. It gives students a stage to learn on, gives residents a reason to come to campus, and keeps a local arts tradition in motion at a time when that kind of public investment matters.