Let’s cut to the chase here.
Guys and Dolls, which has opened the Muny’s 101st season, is nothing short of splendid. Yes, the new stage is marvelous, including the orchestra pit, which has elevators in it. (You’ll see.) But the show, a perennial for many reasons, in this version is a peak American musical theatre experience.
Based on the wonderful Damon Runyon short stories of New York City’s underworld in the Twenties and Thirties, and moved in time to the late Forties, and as good as the Frank Loesser score is, to me the greatest accomplishment are the words, both the lyrics to the song and the book, or script, itself. Runyon’s characters manage to combine slang and high-toned language in a delightful-despite-being-stylized fashion. Funny? You bet. I’d forgotten the line about a Scarsdale Galahad (Scarsdale, NY, is still the second-richest town on the East Coast), but will never lose “…a gent paying all kinds of rent for a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal,” from the title song.
There’s gold in the material. What has the Muny done with it? Director Gordon Greenberg has brought a gifted cast to us, and choreography by Lorin Latarro and Patrick O’Neill mixes throwback Agnes deMille style with the snap of Bob Fosse to great effect. One seldom thinks of this as a dance show, but in Forest Park it is and it’s absolutely delicious.
Ben Davis is Sky Masterson (shown above with Brittany Bradford), the suave gambler who takes a bet on whether he can take “a mission doll” (doll being the generic word for female with these guys) to dinner. He’s warm and convincing in his belief that he can get her to dinner – and that he’s not the type to become a Scarsdale Galahad. Jordan Gelber plays Nathan Detroit, who runs the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York, as Loesser described it. Gelber moves like James Corden, and has a face that occasionally brought to mind the late Karl Malden in a very good mood, making Detroit altogether irresistible despite his 14-year engagement to the star of a local nightclub.
The distaff side is equally well-represented onstage. Sarah Brown, the “mission doll”, comes to us courtesy of Brittany Bradford, a strong-willed and virtuous young woman who denies her tingles just as loooong as she possibly can. A wonderful voice, put to good use, and fine acting. St. Louisan Kendra Kassebaum (shown below with Jordan Gelber) creates Miss Adelaide, the long-suffering chantoosey with the ongoing engagement to good old reliable Nathan. She just tears it up, particularly with “Adelaide’s Lament”, and happily, the sound system is good enough that the lyrics came through loud and clear, occasioning loud and much-deserved laughter.
The supporting players are a significant part of this show, and we can start with Ken Page as Sarah’s grandfather, who runs the mission with her. He’s never sounded better. Nicely-Nicely Johnson, one of Detroit’s buddies who sings, “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” is Orville Mendoza. Nicely-Nicely was originated by the late Stubby Kaye, and this is a good point to say that despite the amazing number of well-known actors who’ve done this show, all these folks are not channeling anyone else’s performances. They own these roles, no easy task with such a heritage.
The new stage and video screens are used to great effect here, spangled with neon signs and logos from the period. (Bonus points to anyone else who remembers Tofenetti’s.) And do keep an occasional eye on the orchestra pit, from which rises occasionally a cast member or two.
A wondrous start to the new season.
Guys and Dolls
through June 16
The Muny
Forest Park