SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
Guys and Dolls
|
" The world of Damon Runyon purports to be that of outlaws, gangsters, low-lifes and fancy girls, and we take them at their word. But in fact, all of them, these "marginal" people of gritty old New York, end up succumbing to the same old familiar ache: the Stripper and the missionary girl, the wayward gambler and procrastinating bookie, in spite of what they believe of themselves or others believe in them, end up looking to find a home, a haven and familial love."
— Director Mary Zimmerman. |
Daniel T. Parker and David Kelly (Photo credit: Kevin Parry)
|
Zimmerman's production for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) &emdash; restaged at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts &emdash; is canny, hugely charming, and lean as a bone. Cast, sets, costumes, and production flourishes may be at a minimum, but the delight quotient is through the ceiling. From the frisky opening"Runyonland" which has the entire cast in motion, all the way through to Miss Adelaide and Sarah Brown agreeing via a spit-palm pact to "Marry the Man Today," this Guys and Dolls is a winner.
Our pre-curtain view is of New York's skyline depicted in a 1930s era postcard. The curtain rises on a scene of, well, practically nothing. Daniel Ostling's scenic design consists of a series of easily transported set pieces, a counter here, an edifice there, shifting booths for the Hot Box. There's a small scale model of Big Apple buildings that gets shuttled around the stage, almost as a reminder that what we are watching is"a musical fable of Broadway." Mara Blumenfeld's costumes are smart without being attention-grabbers. Apart from final scene switches into newsboy and Salvation Army garb, Sky Masterson (played by Jeremy Peter Johnson) and Nathan Detroit (Rodney Gardiner) may change costumes once during the entire show.
Zimmerman and her musical team are not relying on big splashy chorus numbers; they don't need to. With Daniel T. Parker's giddy Nicely-Nicely Johnson and David Kelly's Benny Southstreet playing things schtick-free, numbers like "Guys and Dolls" and the trio "Fugue for Tin Horns" (the latter with Joe Wegner) are in the surest of hands. Be-colded stripper Miss Adelaide (Robin Goodrin Nordli) is backed by a grand total of four Hot Box Girls. Choreographer Daniel Pelzig puts the ensemble most rigorously through its paces in"Havana" which has the company maneuvering around an array of beach balls and, later, during the"Crapshooter's Dance."
With immortal tunes, a clever plot and well-known characters, the success of Guys and Dolls often comes down to that old Sky Masterson favorite: "chemistry." Zimmerman's company has it by the bushel. Gardiner and Nordli's Nathan and Miss Adelaide have clearly been working this marriage-evasion dance for years. Nordli projects weariness more than desperation while Gardiner's often manic Detroit feels like he's one failed deal away from a nervous breakdown. The actor can also flat-out dance. In solo mode, Nordli works fetchingly through the links between being single and being sick in "Adelaide's Lament" without a bludgeoning "Joisey accent." We want her to get her man.
On the straight couple side of the ledger, Kate Hurster takes the mission doll Sarah Brown from straight-laced to uninhibited with some real comic gusto. The Havana scene that has Hurtser guzzling down a couple of dulce de leches ("They should use this to make children drink milk") is a riot, and she ends up vampy and very charming as she explains "If I were a Bell."
As her dice rolling Don Juan, Johnson's Masterson seems to be going through some real insecurity. Whether blustering with Gardiner's Nathan or acting the sinner in need of saving with Hurster, Johnson's Sky Masterson comes across as not at all cocksure that he will win this final wager. The doubt is becoming and, like Nordli and Gardiner, Hurster and Johnson are well-matched. The same holds true top-to-bottom for Zimmerman's ensemble.
For the second consecutive season, an OSF musical has moved from Ashland to the Wallis in time for the holidays, following the remount of the company's equally delightful Into the Woods. With The Wiz on the docket for OSF in 2016, the Wallis would do well to start getting its yellow bricks in order for next year post-haste.
|
Guys and Dolls Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser Directed by Mary Zimmerman Cast: Alyssa Birrer, Tyler Matthew Burk, Tony DeBruno, Richard Elmore, Al Espinosa, Robert Vincent Frank, Rodney Gardiner, Kristin Glaeser, Richard Howard, Kate Hurster, Briawna Jackson, Jeremy Peter Johnson, Sean Jones, David Kelly, Eugene Ma, Robin Goodrin Nordli, Erin O'Connor, Daniel T. Parker, Britney Simpson, Jeff Skowron, Jonathan Luke Stevens, K.T. Vogt, Joe Wegner, Christopher Henry Young Music Direction and Orchestrations: Doug Peck. Choreographer: Daniel Pelzig Technical Director: Brad Enlow Scenic Designer: Daniel Ostling Costume Designer: Mara Blumenfeld Lighting Designer: T.J. Gerckens Sound Designer: Ray Nardelli Casting Director - OSF: Joy Dickson Vice and Text Director: Susan Sweeney Fight Director: U. Jonathan Toppo Production Stage Manager: Jeremy Eisen Assistant Stage Manager: Roxana Khan Songs:"Opening/Runyonland," "Fugue for Tin Horns," "Follow the Fold," "The Oldest Established," "I'll Know," "A Bushel and a Peck," "Adelaide's Lament," "Guys and Dolls," "Havana," "If I Were a Bell," "My Time of Day," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "Take Back Your Mink," "Adelaide's Second Lament," "More I cannot Wish You," "Luck be a Lady," "Sue Me," "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat," "The Guys Follow the Fold," "Marry the Man Today," "Finale/The Happy Ending" Plays through December 20, 2015 at the Bram Goldsmith Theater, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 746-4000, www.thewallis.org Running time: Two hours, 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission Reviewed by Evan Henerson |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
|
Anything Goes Cast Recording
Book of Mormon -CD