If you think there’s anything sexier and funnier than murder, you’ll think again after seeing the phenomenal musical “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at Mason Street Warehouse.

On their own, Swedish disco-pop group ABBA’s insanely catchy hits are sexy, silly, and sometimes all but nonsensical; but strung together with a light-hearted storyline and a handful of lovable characters, they become better than they have any right to be.

“Strong woman” is more often than not a redundant phrase, but nowhere more so than in the South. And even amid the grand canon of 20th Century Southern literature, very few works honor and capture the realness, sharp wit, and fierce love of the strong Southern woman better than Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias.”

Whether or not you consider yourself a fan of farce hardly matters when you find yourself in the audience of a truly excellent production. The script will necessarily be formulaic and full of corny jokes — and yet what talented, imaginative, fully-committed actors can do with that set of characters and off-the-wall scenario, particularly with a director who has a gift for comedy, can make you marvel at their artistry and laugh so hard your belly hurts.