**** Recommended Drury Lane Theatre’s revival of Guys and Dolls is a throwback to the ‘50s. The score is pure nostalgia, filled with songs I remember my mom singing – songs like Luck Be a Lady, A Bushel and a Peck and Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat. The characters are over-the-top – especially Miss Adelaide (Alanna Lovely) who totally steals the show! The gamblers – sinners all – are a hoot. Can these sinners be saved? Probably not, but that’s half the fun! 4 Spotlights
Nathan Detroit (Jackson Evans) runs “the oldest established, permanent floating Crap game in New York.” Because the heat is on – in the person of Lt. Brannigan (Karl Hamilton) – Nathan is having a hard time finding a place for the game.
He’s been engaged to nightclub singer, Miss Adelaide (Lovely) for the past 14 years. Miss Adelaide and the Hot Box Girls headline nightly at the Hot Box. She’s been afflicted with a cold, which she’s learned might be psychosomatic, Adelaide’s Lament.
Nathan desperately needs $1,000 for a place to hold the nightly game, so he bets notorious gambler (who’ll bet on anything), Sky Masterson (Pepe Nufrio), that he can’t get a certain doll to go to Havana with him. After Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan specifies that the doll must be Lt. Sarah Brown (Erica Stephan) – who runs the Salvation Army Mission.
I loved the guys in the game, who all sing and dance up a storm – and they have such funky names, too! Angie the Ox (Mack Alexander), Harry the Horse (Jordan Anthony Arredondo), Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Nkrumah Gatling), Benny Southstreet (Christopher LLewyn Ramirez) and Rusty Charlie (Spencer Davis Milford). Even Chicago hood, Big Jule (KC McNeil) can dance.
Nathan is shocked to learn that Miss Adelaide didn’t want her mother to know her engagement lasted 14 years, so she told her all about the wedding. Nathan figures that’s OK since they’re getting married anyway, but the fictitious five kids (and one on the way) might be a problem!
Sky is determined to win the bet so he invites Lt. Sarah to lunch (in Havana). To get her to agree, he promises that he will bring 12 sinners to her midnight prayer meeting at the mission. Meanwhile, General Matilda B. Cartwright (Heidi Kettenring) has decided to close the mission. Sarah and Arvide Abernathy (Gene Weygand) beg her to wait since Sky promised a dozen sinners at the prayer meeting.
Also appearing in Guys and Dolls: Agatha & Martha (Mandy Modic), Hot Box Emcee (Austin Nelson, Jr.), Mimi (Alexandra Palkovic), Hot Box Waiter (Maxel McLoud Schingen), Joey Biltmore & Calvin (Fred Zimmerman). The ensemble includes: Jennessa Altvater, Leah Casey, Karl Hamilton, Justin Payton Nelson and Brian Selcik.
The Drury Lane Orchestra includes Chris Sargent (Conductor/Keyboard), Karl Montzka (Associate Conductor), Larry Kohut (Bass), Vance Okraszewski (Percussion), Carey Deadman (Trumpet/Flugelhorn), Brian Shannon (Flute/Piccolo/Clarinet/Alto Sax/Tenor Sax( and Matt Wifler (Flute/Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Tenor Sax/Baritone Sax)
Guys and Dolls runs through June 9th at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Parking is free. Running time is two hours, 35 minutes, with a 20-minute intermission. Performances are Wednesdays at 1:30 pm; Thursdays at 1:30 & 7:00 pm; Fridays at 7:00 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 & 6:00 pm. Tickets start at $94.95 (including taxes & fees). FYI (630) 530-0111 or www.drurylanetheatre.com.