A WINNING ROLL OF THE DICE

The musical theater classic Guys and Dolls has been produced so many times and in so many ways you might think it couldn’t get much better, but don’t bet on it. The odds are in the Ogunquit Playhouse’s favor, thanks to tight direction and eye-popping choreography from Al Blackstone. The role of Sarah Brown, the so-called “Mission Doll” who falls hard for gambler Sky Masterson (Ephraim Sykes) can come across as insipid until that wonderful moment in Havana when she sings “If I Were a Bell,” but Maria Bilbao interprets Brown as feisty and even ballsy. Barret Riggins, who took over for Mrs. Doubtfire‘s Rob McClure in the run’s final week as Nathan Detroit, does more effective acting with his eyebrows than some performers do with their whole bodies. Miss Adelaide, always a comic highlight of this show, ups the ante with Bianca Marroquín’s perfect timing as the lead Hot Box showgirl who is also the long-suffering fiancée of marriage-avoidant Nathan Detroit.

But for my money, the absolute winner in this outstanding cast was Mykal Kilgore as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, one of the Times Square crap shooters. His lead role in “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” was absolutely thrilling, and the entire staging of that number, in which the ensemble transitions from sitting perpendicular to the audience to facing it, was utterly tremendous. He ends that number by freezing in place, arms outstretched to prolong the effect of his performance, a technique used several times in this show, often by a group of actors who hold a tableaux after or in the midst of a rousing number. Kilgore’s singing range, like that of Bilbao, is extraordinary.

There are many winning rolls in this production, including the “Luck Be a Lady” entr’acte ballet with its elaborate pantomime of shooting craps and of winning and losing as well as the opening “Runyonland” montage, in which members of the cast dance across the stage, transferring, intentionally or unintentionally, a glowing oversized dollar bill from one to another.

Frank Loesser’s music and lyrics always delight; the book, by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, doesn’t always get enough appreciation. It weaves together a couple of Damon Runyan’s stories of larger-than-life denizens of Times Square: gamblers, small-time crooks, mobsters, and missionaries. From the moment Nathan Detroit appears on stage, seeking a place to hold an illegal craps game, we are in the midst of a plot that keeps tightening, raising the stakes for each of the principal characters whose conflicting needs, seemingly so at odds with one another, magically (and yet logically, if you accept the rules of Runyonland) resolve into two weddings and a happy ending for all concerned.

Adam Koch and Steven Royal’s scenic and video design brings bygone Times Square to life with signs advertising everything from movie theaters to restaurants to hotels and burlesque shows as well as transporting us to a Havana nightclub and a beautiful Cuban beach under a full moon. An ensemble of ten terrific dancers and a seven-piece orchestra (Nick Wilders, music director) round out this jackpot of a production.

photos by Nile Scott Studios

Guys and Dolls
Ogunquit Playhouse
10 Main St, Ogunquit, Maine
ends on July 19, 2025
for tickets (from $40), call 207.646.5511 or visit Ogunquit