by Brooks Appelbaum
view review on ShorelineTimes.com
Most of us envision (or remember, if we’re lucky) a perfect production of Guys and Dolls, the exuberant musical based on Damon Runyan’s tales of 1930s New York and New York characters (as in “What a character”). With a book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, and music and lyrics by the incomparable Frank Loesser, the show stands as the epitome of the Broadway musical in its golden age.
The twin love stories — between highs takes gambler Sky Masterson and innocent Salvation Army lass Sarah Brown; and Hot Box dancer Miss Adelaide, 14 years engaged to the marriage-shy Nathan Detroit — are humorous and genuinely touching in equal measure. And Loesser’s songs, along with the sparkling book, bring to life Runyan’s distinctive prose style and his creation of people who uncannily mix low circumstances with a high-flown dignity and diction that take us by delighted surprise.
Goodspeed Musicals’ current production of Guys and Dolls, beautifully directed by Don Stephenson, is very nearly a perfect production, and its minor missteps in no way mar the absolute pleasure of the whole. The most important challenge of any Guys and Dolls is to present these characters, as Stephenson writes in his Director’s Notes, “humanly, but with innocence, romanticism, and largesse that transcends realism… they are real, openhearted humans with romantic notions and dreams of making it big.” Many directors don’t write so beautifully, nor do they have to. What’s remarkable about Stephenson’s words is that they capture almost exactly what he has put onstage. No matter how outlandish, each character immediately wins our sympathy; no matter how improbable, each plot keeps us hoping for its happy resolution.
Stephenson’s success lies, first, in his impeccable casting. Every performer deserves to be named, but suffice it to say that each acts, sings, and dances with conviction and charm. Mike Price, as Nathan Detroit, captures each nuance of this funny, quirky man, who is an inveterate gambler, but who genuinely loves his long-suffering, long-term fiancée. As the fiancée, Miss Adelaide, Nancy Anderson comes as close to stealing this show as is possible, given the enormous talent on the stage. Adelaide is written as the broadest of the characters, and yet in Anderson’s rendition, we absolutely believe her joys and her disappointments, and the depth of her devotion to the feckless Nathan.
Sarah Brown, the “Mission doll” who gets mixed up with gambler Sky Masterson, must combine physical beauty, staunch morality, and a touching innocence. Manna Nichols gives us all of these, plus a marked talent for comedy and a crystalline soprano that makes her challenging songs sound effortless. Tony Roach, as Sky, brings to the role marvelous good looks, smooth confidence, and at just the right moments, a nearly heartbreaking vulnerability.
Especially winning are Scott Cote (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), whose “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” is a triumph, and Noah Plomgren (Benny Southstreet) who joins Cote in a terrific rendition of the title song.
Scenic Designer Paul Tate dePoo III gives the show a stunning look, and his multiple locations flow with cinematic ease. Choreographer Alex Sanchez imbues large cast numbers like “Luck be a Lady” with fast, athletic power. Music Director Michael O’Flaherty beautifully supports the cast. It is here, though, with the choreography and the music direction, that director Stephenson makes some infelicitous choices. Three of the most glorious love ballads in this, or any, show — Sky and Sarah’s “I’ll Know”; Sky’s “My Time of Day”; and their duet, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” — are played up-tempo, which detracts from their swooning magic. And Stephenson allows costumer Tracy Christensen to give Adelaide’s Hot Box numbers a classy sheen that makes little sense, considering that Adelaide, having been engaged for 14 years, is a bit over the hill for a top-flight ecdysiast, and also considering the smarmy, down-at-heel men in the club.
However, these distractions are minor, considering the marvelous production as a whole. In every important respect, Goodspeed’s Guys and Dolls fulfills Stephenson’s promise, and then some. He and his cast transport us to a Runyanesque world, but we never forget that its comical inhabitants share our dreams of romance and our yearning for love.Broadway’s golden age: Goodspeed’s ‘Guys and Dolls’
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