BWW Reviews: GUYS AND DOLLS Is a Sure Bet At Chambersburg's CCT

Damon Runyon was, in his day, a very popular author, and in New York, where he wrote of the flora and fauna of the native underbelly, he was as much of a legend as his stories. Broadway, as well as sports for the Hearst papers, was his beat, and it was inevitable that his works would wind up there. "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" was the primary tale chosen by producer Cy Feuer to bring Runyonland to the stage, and the result, by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, was GUYS AND DOLLS, arguably the closest thing to a perfect Broadway musical ever conceived (and yes, that's considering the lesser alternatives of LES MIS and PHANTOM).

The show opened in 1950, ran for 1200 performances -still a major feat on Broadway, and was revived three times in the city before the 1975 Broadway revival, two further Broadway revivals, the West End productions, and... well, if you're a gambler like the characters in the show, it's a sure thing that GUYS AND DOLLS is playing somewhere in the world every week of the year, every year. What's the appeal? No doubt it's Runyonspeak, that bewildering blend of formal grammar with slang English that's come to characterize gangster speech in American minds, but it's also a combination of wild comedy, one of the finest book musical scores ever written, and a motley collection of peculiarly lovable stereotypical characters.

It's on stage at the Capitol Theatre in Chambersburg, put on by the venerable Chambersburg Community Theatre and directed and choreographed by Kelly Kozlowski. There's an unevenness to her production that isn't hard to spot, but she has a clear knack for casting. Even her secondary character casting shines, particularly in such perfect placements as area stage veteran Lee Merriman as Nicely Nicely Johnson, and CCT veteran Sally Herritt as one of the most delightful General Cartwrights this writer has seen. The casting of Patrick McNamee as Nicely Nicely's sidekick Benny was also inspired; although he's new to the stage, it certainly was not in evidence, and his presence, especially in the classic opening song, "Fugue for Tinhorns," was always felt. One hopes he'll come back for more stage work; there's a Sunshine Boy in him one of these days.

Christopher Cook was a fine Nathan Detroit, fortunately not a movie-version Sinatra clone, and Matthew Barninger's Sky Masterson is a real talent, who's able to make his falling head-over-heels for missionary sister Sarah Brown visible and believable. And this production's Sarah Brown, Stephanie Allee, has the dangerous combination of the demeanor of a school marm and legs and eyes that definitely do not belong to one, to make Sky's descent into emotional freefall more than plausible.

This is a show in which almost every number's well-known, and most not only did not disappoint but were exactly what an audience wants. Merriman and McNamee, with Christian Witmer in the opening, delivered spot-on performances of "Fugue" ("I've got a horse right here; his name is Paul Revere" -the show's fans know it even if they don't know the song's name) and the title number. The mission band's regular appearances with "Follow the Fold" were as gospel-preaching-inspired as any street salvationists short of Aimee Semple McPherson and her trumpet. And in the two show-stoppers Loesser built into the second act, Barninger brought "Luck Be a Lady" the Vegas twist it needed, with a fine ensemble backing him, and Merriman did that greatest of eleven o'clock numbers, "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" the sort of justice it rarely sees, with, again, fine backup from the ensemble.

The male ensemble, in "The Oldest Established" and "Luck Be a Lady," was outstanding, as was the full ensemble in the "Havana" dance number, which was indeed neatly choreographed, and when they were backing Merriman. The female ensemble alone was, perhaps, a bit more uneven, particularly with the Hat Box Club numbers. Unfortunately, "Take Back Your Mink" was not as effective as it should have been, and Kozlowski needs to reconsider staging when she directs this show again. Though it's by no means a truly raunchy number, there needs to be a real baring at least of the shoulders at some point, not just the tiniest of shrugs, and tossing the furs is not really optional for the number to feel rightly enacted. (Admittedly community theatre lives on a tough schedule, and one suspects some lack of rehearsal time for Miss Adelaide and her Debutantes.)

The point of this show, however, is really that Abe Burrows and Frank Loesser created one of the great comic Broadway shows that simply never ages -because both Runyonland and great musical book crafting have never grown old or tired. The great moments of this production demonstrate that perfectly, as in Barninger's and Merriman's main numbers; it's worth seeing this production just for the sheer magic of those moments, and then realizing that you really do know enough of the words to bother the people in front of you by singing along with the rest of the score. Go ahead. They're singing, too.

At the Capitol Theatre, Chambersburg, through May 17. Big Jule would be displeased if you should fail to take him up on his kind invitation to see him shoot craps. But if you should, and if you somehow live to tell that, CCT kicks off its next season in November with THE WIZARD OF OZ. Visit CCTOnline.org for tickets and information.

To post a comment, you must register and login.