Guys and Dolls, Eisenhower Theatre, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

 

Stephen Pasquale and Gamblers, "Luck Be a Lady Tonight." Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel/the Kennedy Center

Much has been written about the “Golden Age” of Broadway musicals, roughly from the advent of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! in 1943 to the arrival of the “rock” musical epitomized by Hair, which debuted in 1968, ushering in the Age of Aquarius. The Golden Age was a period of great “book” musicals, with a focus on plot and musicality. Broadway songs regularly became pop music standards. What might be construed as appropriate material for musicals expanded as subjects became more serious. After all, South Pacific was about war and racism, one of the title characters in The King and I died on stage after an exploration of privilege and sexism, West Side Story gave us gang warfare in New York, Fiddler on the Roof showed the expulsion of Jews as part of a Russian pogrom, and Cabaret demonstrated the rise of the Nazis in pre-war Germany. Heady stuff; you could easily argue that these may be musicals, but not “musical comedies.”

One of the most delightful of the book musicals and perhaps the very best “musical comedy” from this period was Guys and Dolls, a 1950 creation by composer/lyricist Frank Loesser with a book by Abe Burrows (Jo Swerling, who retained a writing credit, submitted an initial draft that was deemed unacceptable). For pure fun, I can’t think of a single musical that beats Guys and Dolls.

The Kennedy Center produced Guys and Dolls as part of their Broadway Center Stage series for a limited run of 10 sold-out performances at the Eisenhower Theatre, October 7-16. What was initially intended (in 2017) as a series of concert-like renditions of musicals with minimal sets, costumes, etc., has become a stellar series that may make use of a slightly downsized production, but does not compromise on production values. Beautifully designed, this particular production makes use of the 22-part orchestrations created for the 1992 Broadway revival. The expert choreography is performed by acrobatic, gravity-defying dancers. This is a DC-only special production, though it could easily charm its way into a good Broadway run. And it all came together with minimal rehearsals.

Based on characters created by writer Damon Runyon in the 1930s, Guys and Dolls shows us the underbelly of New York: a group of fairly petty gamblers (the Guys) whose primary problem, at first, is where they can hold their “oldest established permanent floating crap game.” The leader of the crap game, Nathan Detroit, is engaged to “the famous fiancée,” Miss Adelaide (one of the Dolls), a night club singer and dancer whose performances are backed by the Hot Box Girls.

Into the mix arrives Sarah Brown (ultimately another Doll), who leads the Save-a-Soul Mission. She and her band of street missionaries (including her grandfather) serve quasi-military religious organization seeking sinners to save. And what better place to find them in the seedy city center?

The worlds intersect when Nathan bets a fellow gambler, Sky Masterson, that Sky can’t convince Sarah to accompany him to Havana. Sky falls for Sarah and she for him, but he’s not the salvation type and her ideal man will not be a gambler. Parting, for the moment, he apologizes that she has been “used” to win him a bet and promises her a dozen bona fide sinners will show up at a midnight prayer gathering at the mission to help her impress a visiting church leader.

Delightfully parallel stories: a primarily comedic couple (Nathan and Adelaide) and a primarily romantic one (Sky and Sarah). Nathan and Adelaide, engaged for 14 years, and Sky and Sarah, whose chemistry is spontaneous and undeniable. Sometimes even big musicals will give us only a handful of memorable characters, but the lovers in this show are surrounded by numerous specific, interesting characters, some because of how they are written, others because of how they are played.

The show opens with a pantomime involving numerous New York staples: tourists with cameras, military types, a pickpocket, a blind beggar with a cup, a boxer in training, all part of the hustle and bustle of life in the big city. Everything is energetic and colorful in this carefully choreographed action, setting the perfect mood for what is to come.

Loesser’s songs range from parody to burlesque to Irish ballad to faux gospel to romantic idealism, each one hitting its mark in creating character, establishing action, and advancing the story, perfectly suited to the moment in which it is sung.

And how it is sung! Kudos to musical director Kevin Stites. The four principals have extensive Broadway credits with numerous award-winning or nominated performances to their credit. They certainly give award-worthy performances here.

James Monroe Iglehart, a Tony Award winner as the Genie in Aladdin and a veteran of Broadway’s Hamilton, more than fulfills his responsibilities vocally, but he is given short shrift musically (because the original Nathan, Sam Levene, had such limited vocal skills, Nathan has only one song with Adelaide, in which they are never singing at the same time). That’s too bad, because Iglehart could have handled much more. He delivers a solid comedic performance and fits nicely into the numbers with the other gamblers. Above all, he has great character chemistry with his Miss Adelaide.

Jessie Mueller, a Tony Award winner as Carole King in Beautiful, has primarily appeared in more serious musical roles, including Carousel and Waitress. Here, she is brassy, sassy, silly, sexy, and seductive in two numbers as the nightclub entertainer. She delivers the goods on what may be one of the greatest comic numbers ever, “Adelaide’s Lament,” discovering that her continuous cold symptoms may well be psychosomatic. But make no mistake, she can deliver the power as well. She matches Iglehart in character chemistry.

Steven Pasquale is the kind of square-jawed leading man you find in mid-century movies, which served him well in the musical version of The Bridges of Madison County. As Sky Masterson, the ultimate Big Roller, he is handsome, suave, self-assured, and charismatic. Add to that a rich baritone and considerable charm, and you understand what has made him a Broadway leading man. His Act I duet with Sarah, “I’ll Know,” is lush and romantic, and his Act II “Luck Be a Lady” is intense and winning. (His palpable chemistry with Sarah may be enhanced because Sarah is played by his wife, Phillipa Soo.)

Phillipa Soo will be forever known as the original Eliza Hamilton in the ground-breaking Hamilton (for which she received Tony and Emmy nominations). I did not see her on stage, but I have listened to the recording dozens of times and have seen the television version of the staged play. Still, I was unprepared for her performance as Sarah Brown. When she began “I’ll Know” in Act I, the sounds she produced were almost angelic, a thrilling, crystalline soprano that soared and literally caused goose bumps. When Sarah gets a taste of some Cuban refreshment and loosens up, Soo mines more comedy from Sarah than I remembered. She and Mueller are evenly matched in their duet, “Marry the Man Today.” All in all, Soo’s performance is a revelation.  

The diverse cast has much depth beyond these four stellar leads. Kevin Chamberlin gives a fine performance as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, bringing down the house in “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” a number that never fails to energize an audience. Fred Applegate delivers a sincere performance as Sarah’s grandfather and a sentimental “More I Cannot Wish You.” A surprisingly effective performance is from “Saturday Night Live” alum Rachel Dratch as visiting Chicago gambler Big Jule. This sounds like stunt casting (because it is), but it works because of the actors’ commitment to the truth that the petite actress plays a big-time and potentially dangerous player.

There is not an insincere performance to be found in this production. Among the other cast members who make the most of their moments: Allison Blackwell as the eager, cymbal-playing member of the Save-a-Soul Mission Band, Matthew Saldivar as Nicely-Nicely’s sidekick Benny Southstreet, Jimmy Smagula as gambler Harry the Horse, Eden Marryshow as Officer Branigan, and Jacqueline Antaramian as General Cartwright.

Placing the orchestra on stage in two dice-like boxes emphasizes the theatricality of the production. The remainder of the set and projection design by Paul Tate Depoo III consists primarily of well-chosen, suggestive scenic elements and an amazing array of period-appropriate projections of New York locations in the background. Costumes by Maria Blumenfeld are amusing and appropriate, outrageously colorful, and individualized. Lighting design by Cory Pattak and sound design by Kai Harada and Haley Parcher help create a perfect look and sound.

Marc Bruni (who directed Mueller to a Tony in Beautiful) directs with precision. In places, it is difficult to tell where the work of the director and the choreographer begin and end, a credit to both Bruni and choreographer Denis Jones. Jones’s dances have graced Arlington’s Signature Theatre (winning a Helen Hayes Award) as well as Broadway, where he received two Tony nominations. The Hot Box numbers, the Havana sequence, and “Luck Be a Lady” are excellent examples of inventive choreography thrillingly executed by skilled dancers.

At the performance I attended on Sunday, October 9, an off-stage incident during Act II caused the show to be stopped for about two minutes. The audience had no clue what happened, but they loved being “in on” this disruption. The cast and orchestra gamely picked up where they left off and the audience roared its approval, proof again that live theatre can be unpredictable and always occurs “in the moment.” We saw something I bet other audiences didn’t, which made it all the more special.

At intermission, I overheard one patron speak about coming from New York to DC specifically for this production, weeks after seeing Phillipa Soo as Cinderella in the current Broadway production. How fortunate for us in the DC metro area that we have this opportunity! The Kennedy Center delivered true musical comedy bliss in a one-of-a-kind performance. Thank you, Kennedy Center, for this amazing gift.