Created by: Frank Loesser (music and lyrics); Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows (book) At: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis
Phone: (773) 753-4472; $26-$50
Runs through: March 28
It's been done a thousand times all over the world, from high school auditoriums, to community theater playhouses, to renowned theatrical venues, and to the silver screen. So how does a director (in this case, Court Artistic Director Charles Newell) breathe new life into this musical chestnut? After all, part of the mission of the Court Theatre is to bring audiences 'classics like you've never seen them before.'
But Newell succeeds in creating something new, exciting, and different from this Tony Award-winning 'fable of Broadway.' He does it not by setting it down somewhere different from the environs imagined in the Damon Runyon short stories upon which the play is based, but by stripping it down to its essentials, and letting its story of star-crossed lovers, sin, retribution, salvation, and gambling fire our imaginations with just the right verbal and musical cues. Newell has staged the parallel love stories of gambler extraordinaire Sky Masterson (David New) and prim, love-starved Salvation Army sergeant, Sarah Brown (Susan Moniz) and hungry-for-marriage lounge singer, Miss Adelaide (Heidi Kettering) and runner of the largest floating craps game in New York City, Nathan Detroit (Scott Parkinson) with minimal props, minimal sets, and minimal choreography, yet somehow succeeds in maximizing the humor, character, and longing of this legendary piece. But he doesn't succeed completely. While the tasteful, bare-bones staging leaves room for character to shine (along with some pretty nifty performances, such as those of Kettering and Lance Stuart Baker as Harry the Horse), it leaves us wanting more in terms of setting. This is supposed to be a kind of fast-paced, in-the-shadows New York City, where crap games are held in sewers and leggy chorines belt out their laments with the jazzy back up of other chorus girls. But Newell's staging, handsome as it is, leaves us longing for a sense of place.
Thank goodness some of that longing is satisfied by an outstanding sense of character, most notably by Heidi Kettering's amazing interpretation of Miss Adelaide. Kettering has both the thespian and vocal chops to bring this character to funny, yet poignant life. Her comic timing, stage presence, and voice make her a standout not only of the production, but also of the season. When she sings 'Adelaide's Lament' in the first act, it's the high point of the show. The other female lead, Susan Moniz's proper Sarah Brown, is also good. Moniz is an accomplished performer and brings considerable depth and layering to the role. Although none of them are below par, the male side of the cast doesn't fare as well. Jeff Dumas' Nicely Nicely Johnson is compact, with a great singing voice. Trouble is, he's forgettable, when the character cries out for distinction. David New, handsome and possessed of an adequate voice, never really rises above the material to make the role anything special. But Scott Parkinson, as Nathan Detroit, is an unusual choice for the character (his boyishness isn't the first thing you'd think of when casting the role), but Parkinson pulls it off, making Detroit edgy, prickly, and oddly lovable.
Newell's decision to put his four-piece jazz ensemble on stage as characters is inspired. Under Doug Peck's musical direction, the quartet shines and adds the perfect dimension … a sense of time and place this Guys and Dolls needs more of.
All in all, though, credit has to go the Court for re-imagining what might have very reasonably been considered a show that had already explored every interpretation.