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Guys & Dolls
Reviewed by Pauline Adamek
The Wallis-Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Through December 20
RECOMMENDED
A tremendously successful Broadway musical, Guys & Dolls ran for 1200 performances, winning five Tony Awards in 1951 including the award for Best Musical. The popular romantic comedy — written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows and featuring Frank Loesser’s catchy tunes and clever lyrics — sparkles with humor, drama, song and dance.
Based on fiction writer Damon Runyon’s world of colorful characters, the story is set in New York City during the Prohibition era and centers around gangsters, gamblers and dolls.
The show traces the romantic ups and downs of two couples: ditzy cabaret entertainer Miss Adelaide (Robin Goodrin Nordli) and her marriage-phobic hustler boyfriend Nathan Detroit (Rodney Gardiner), and smooth-talking gambler Sky Masterson (Jeremy Peter Johnson) and the seemingly unobtainable “refined doll”, a prim Salvation Army officer from the Save-A-Soul Mission, named Sarah Brown (Kate Hurster).
Nathan badly needs to rustle up $1,000 so he can rent space for his “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.” To this end, he bets gambler Sky Masterson that Sky won’t be able to convince Sarah to accompany him to Havana.
Adding to Nathan’s problems, his nightclub singer fiancée, Miss Adelaide, wants to end their 14-year engagement and actually get hitched. She also wants him to go straight, but organizing illegal gambling games is the only thing he knows how to do.
Under the direction of Mary Zimmerman, this Oregon Shakespeare Festival production zips along at a crackling pace, bolstered by broad comedic performances that keep the storyline buoyant and frothy.
Daniel Pelzig’s nicely choreographed athletic dance sequences impart an electric excitement, especially during the overture, where the hustle and bustle of big city life is deftly presented as a series of arrivals, departures and fleeting interactions on busy sidewalks.
Another dance highlight is the energetically choreographed craps game in Act 2, which is backed by an instrumental version of Luck Be a Lady, a hit tune sung by Sky later in the show.
Doug Peck’s musical direction is superlative, and his small jazz outfit of ten talented musicians produces an exhilarating big band sound.
Jeremy Peter Johnson’s warm voice and matinee idol-style crooning make him ideal to play the irresistible bad boy, Sky Masterson. At the end of Act 1 he delivers an especially sweet rendition of “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” Unfortunately Kate Hurster disappoints as Sarah Brown; her voice is too thin and reedy. And the banter between Sky and Sarah could have used more alacrity to make up for the couple’s lack of chemistry.
With her squeaky bubble-gum voice and brassy presence, Robin Goodrin Nordli is great as Miss Adelaide, especially when she underscores the humor in her solo song “Adelaide’s Lament.” Rodney Gardiner is fantastic as the fast-talking Nathan Detroit.
Though slick and entertaining throughout, this production really hits its stride in Act 2 with several big, show-stopping songs: Take Back Your Mink, sung by Miss Adelaide and the Hot Box Girls, Sky’s Luck Be a Lady, and the eleven o’clock number, Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat, belted out by Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Daniel T. Parker) and company.
The period costumes by Mara Blumenfield are superb but Daniel Ostling’s scenic design — consisting mostly of a bare stage with small set pieces and props carried, trucked or flown in when needed — felt insufficient. The occasional placement of a trio of knee-high miniature skyscrapers to represent the cityscape just didn’t work for me, but the secret doors within the upstage wall were a nice touch.
Despite its shortcomings this production of Guys & Dolls still captivates, thanks to its zany plot and memorable songs.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Production at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; through Dec. 20. (310) 746-4000 or www.thewallis.org; Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
