JOYOUSLY, GUYS & DOLLS HAS IT ALL
Still touted as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time, Guys and Dolls turns 75 in November. You’d never know it based on Music Theater Works feisty little production of this all-American classic playing now in Skokie’s North Shore Center. Frisky as a rambunctious puppy, this Guys and Dolls, superbly directed by Sasha Gerriton, has spunk and energy oozing out of it seams. Add an ever-endearing story and music and lyrics so resonant they’ve become embedded in the very fabric of our culture, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a rollicking time. Leaving no chance for a misfire, this production goes a step further by bringing together a cast hell bent on delivering the goods.
Cecilia Iole and Jeffrey Charles
Catherine Rodriguez O’Connor, Jenny Couch, Emma Jean Eastland and Emily Holland
The first thing you notice about this three-track story of gambling and love is Ben Lipinski’s streamlined set that uses a little to say a lot. High on the back wall of the stage, a sweeping mural of New York’s skyline of the 1920s and 30s commands your view. Striking for its scale, the high quality of its artistic rendering and the nostalgic mood it generates with its impressionistic styling, it’s a very attractive and constant reminder of where you are. Down below on the stage itself, emblems of a Times Square from another time have been brought back to life. Neon lights of The Shubert Theater, the Algonquin Hotel and the fictitious Hot Box Club let you know you’re in the land of good times and anything goes. In between, on a platform above the stage and just below the mural, conductor Kevin Disch and his orchestra generate a steady supply of A-grade musical muscle.
Alex Villaseñor, Jenny Couch, Catherine Rodriguez O’Connor, Brandon Acosta, and Emma Jean Eastland
David Geinosky, Cary Lovett and Miguel Long
A rarity, Guys and Dolls is one of those musicals that did it backwards. Rather than write music to fit the book or story, Frank Loesser’s sensational music and lyrics came first. Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows tailored their delightful book to accommodate and accentuate them. All owe their essence to Damon Runyon, the journalist and short story writer of the period who specialized in depicting a unique slice of New York life; one where the denizens of the night congregated and thrived. Brassy and bold, his characters burst with color. Gangsters, hustlers and grifters made up his night crawling milieu, and he treated them with humor and sentimentality.
Bob Sanders, Isabella Gomez-Barrientos, Cecilia Iole, Dee Kimpel, Peter Ruger
Callan Roberts and Cecilia Iole
When we meet Nathan Detroit (Callan Roberts), he’s doing what comes naturally for him, trying to find a home for his floating crap game. Something he never seems not to be doing; much to the chagrin of his fiancée of 14 years, Adelaide (Kristin Brintnall). Instead of celebrating wedding anniversaries, they, or rather she, celebrates engagement anniversaries. Adelaide and her Debutantes have a standing gig at the Hot Box Club and make up an essential part of this spicy mix.
Nathan and Adelaide, like most of the folks navigating Broadway after hours, don’t have much time or use for Sargent Sarah Brown (Cecilia Iole) and her fellow evangelists with the Save A Soul Mission intent on saving them from their sins.
Kristin Brintnall and Cecilia Iole
Jenny Couch, Catherine Rodriguez O’Connor, Kristin Brintnall, Emily Holland and Emma Jean Eastland
Nathan is much more occupied trying to find the $1000 he needs to land his crap game. Seeing what he thinks is a no-lose proposition, he bets another gambler a grand that Sky Masterson (Jeffrey Charles) can’t get Sarah the missionary to go to dinner with him that night in Havana, Cuba. Thus, the road has been paved for more intrigues involving the human heart and loaded dice. Plus a truckload of Loesser’s outstanding music. From “I’ll Know” and “A Bushel and a Peck” to “Adelaide’s Lament” and “If I Were a Bell,” it’s all there. Wonderfully sung and carrying greater impact thanks to the high caliber of singing and acting that only makes them even more savory.
Adam Raso, Callan Reed, Andrew Freeland, David Geinosky and Peter Ruger
Members of the cast of GUYS AND DOLLS
A huge part of Guys and Dolls’ appeal are the character depictions. As director, Gerriton chose to go all in by depicting classic “Runyonesque” loud, brusque-but-lovable personas. Iole and Roberts as Sarah and Sky play it straight, but everyone else is wonderfully over the top. Heavy use of vintage New York brogue and street vernacular make the dialog sparkle like Christmas lights. Cary Lovett as loyal friend to Nathan, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and Andrew Freeland as a mobster goon from Chicago, Big Jule, are standouts. And in truth, the same can be said for Brintnall as Miss Adelaide and Roberts in his turn as a dynamo Nathan Detroit. They all have ample opportunity to brandish their wares and they do ever so admirably. But for memorable comic sequences, you can’t beat Freeland during his performance in the big crap game.
Members of the cast of GUYS AND DOLLS
Often cited for its high-octane choreography, Clayton Cross takes it up a notch by adding another level of vim to his dance design for the show. The dancing shines throughout but seems to glow most brightly when the sexes are dancing separately. When they do, you can better discern the merger of talent and craft in each. Playing in the performance center’s smaller North Theater, the intimacy of the space lets you better absorb the skill needed to make dance magic look effortless.
Cary Lovett and the cast
Speaking of magic, some sort of enchantment must surround what constitutes the show’s eleven o’clock number, “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” Always a foot-tapping rouser, it’s unusually infectious this go ‘round. Handily and beautifully launched by Lovett in his guise of Nicely-Nicely, it’s the cherry on top of this most delectable theatrical confection.
Bob Sanders and Cecilia Iole
photos by Brett Beiner
Guys and Dolls
Music Theater Works
North Shore Center For The Performing Arts
9501 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie
Wed at 2; Fri & Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2; Sat at 2 (March 22, 29)
ends on March 30, 2025
for tickets ($19.50 to $106), call 847.673.6300 or visit MTW
for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago
