Professional gambler Sky Masterson (Pepe Nufrio) woos Sarah Brown (Erica Stephan), the prim-and-proper Save-A-Soul missionary in “Guys and Dolls” at Drury Lane Theatre.
Brett Beiner
Since its debut in 1950, “Guys and Dolls” has proven to be a proper workhorse of a musical. Frank Loesser’s upbeat, melodic score — featuring numbers including “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “Fugue for Tinhorns” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” — is a solid gold classic. Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows’ book — populated by loveable wiseguys in a nostalgically glamorous mid-century New York City — features memorably idiosyncratic dialogue.
At the Drury Lane Theatre, director/choreographer Dan Knechtges pushes the show to the outermost boundaries of broad comedy. This bumptious, goofy production is firmly rooted in camp. That style is well-suited for a show based on short stories by Damon Runyon. What Runyon’s playing-card thin characters lack in substance of subtlety, they make up for in silliness.
The plot is centered on Nathan Detroit (Jackson Evans), purveyor of the “the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.” His fiancée of 14 years is Miss Adelaide (Alanna Lovely), a burlesque performer.
While Nathan struggles to keep the crap game afloat, a band of local missionaries are trying to save sinners. But Save-a-Soul Mission’s Sarah Brown (Erica Stephan) becomes distracted from her work when handsome high roller Sky Masterson (Pepe Nufrio) swoops in and woos her with a “Bachelor”-franchise worthy date to Cuba. Matters eventually come to a dramatic apex when the Nathan’s gamblers and the Save-a-Soul missionaries must work together to ensure their respective survival.
The production stands out on the strength of its musical numbers. Anchored by Nkrumah Gatlin’s incandescent Nicely-Nicely Johnson, the aforementioned “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” turns the bare-bones Save-A-Soul Mission into a bona fide hallelujah joint of flabbergasting spiritual powers. When Nufrio opens the bellows on “Luck Be a Lady,” it’s the vocal equivalent of a royal flush, absolutely, inarguably winning.
Evans’ Nathan is more harmless galoot than fearsome gangster. As Sarah, Stephan has the bell-like soprano needed to make numbers including the duet “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” soar. Lovely’s Miss Adelaide is a gifted burlesque dancer of indomitable will and more brains that initially seems apparent. As Sky Masterson, Nufrio is an impossible charming crooner with a voice as rich and smooth as Havana rum.
The supporting cast is notably terrific. Jordan Anthony Arredondo’s Harry the Horse is a hoot and a half. Heidi Kettenring’s General Cartwright also mines comedy to the hilt, moving from prune-faced puritan to holy roller ecstasy within the space of a single, chaotic prayer meeting.
Knechtges’s choreography is effective from start to finish, hitting a high point with “The Crapshooters’ Dance,” the whole ensemble deployed to create an acrobatic ballet of frantic, otherworldly beauty.
Throughout, the singular cadence of the dialogue — nobody uses contractions, and everybody has a vaguely Brooklynish accent — flows with a subtle tempo that weaves dialogue and music together with seamless ease.
The show would benefit from a few more ensemble players, however: The chorines are spread thin on Miss Adelaide’s marvelous Hot Box numbers, the squeaky “I Love More Than a Bushel and a Peck” and the cheeky “Take Back Your Mink.” Still, it delivers on Loesser’s blockbuster score and finds the fun in Runyon’s scoundrels and scalawags.