Metro Pulse/Backstage/Guys and Dolls

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What:
Guys and Dolls

When:
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 22

Where:
Oak Ridge Playhouse

Cost:
$12/$15. Call 482-9999.

This Oak Ridge Playhouse production shines like Loesser's plucky songs

by Paige M. Travis

Guys and Dolls is an iconic Broadway musical. It's got everything you want in a big show—laughs, love, drama, tension and, most of all, a happy ending. With a cast of 31 actors singing and dancing all over the small stage, this colorful production by the Oak Ridge Playhouse really feels like a miniature version of its Broadway counterpart.

Based on a story by Damon Runyon with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, Guys and Dolls is set in 1940s New York City, in the rough and tumble Broadway district. The streets are busy with gamblers, scammers, ladies of the night and other citizens of ill-repute. But like con men of the silver screen, the "guys" in their pin-stripe suits are incredibly charming. In fact, they make gambling seem like a fairly tame activity. Nathan (pronounced in New York-ese as "Nate-un") Detroit is the ringleader of the oldest permanent floating crap game in the city. Everybody turns to him to find out where the game's going to be, only Lt. Brannigan has been cracking down, and they can't find a space for their game. This wrench in the works has got Nathan frazzled, and to make matters worse, he hasn't bought an anniversary present for Adelaide, his fiancé of 14 years. His cash and location problems will be solved if he can win a bet with Sky Masterson, a smooth-talking gambler of considerable wealth who can be challenged to bet on the oddest things. So sure of his way with the ladies, Sky bets Nathan $1,000 that he can take any "doll" (that's "woman" to us in the post-feminist era) to Havana that night. Nathan chooses Miss Sarah Brown, the devout head of the Salvation Army "Save a Soul" mission.

The story unfolds as Sky pursues Sarah, the guys try to establish their crap game and Nathan and Adelaide wrangle about their possibly, maybe, sometime wedding. The dialogue is as well-written as the lyrics, which are funny and clever and rhyme like all the best show tunes. "Luck Be a Lady," which you've probably heard before, gains particular significance in the context of the play as Sky makes a bet he really doesn't want to lose. Most songs are choreographed to keep the actors moving around, which keeps the energy high. The "Crapshooters' Dance," in which the gamblers lay their money down and roll the dice, is reminiscent of scenes from "West Side Story," and it's a feat of choreography on such a small stage. Adelaide is a dancer at the Hot Box nightclub, where she and the Hot Box Girls perform "Bushel and a Peck" in bright yellow "chick" outfits. This scene, along with one in which the girls rip off bridesmaids dresses to reveal black teddies and fishnet hose, is charged with sexuality. Where the theater could have made the dancing or the costumes more conservative, they chose instead to present a realistic cabaret act, making the scene titillating while using the vision of the skimpily clad dancers to contrast the moral questions of gambling and Sarah's mission to save souls.

Perhaps the hardest thing about producing a musical is to assemble a cast that can act, sing and if we're lucky dance. This show's mix of professionals, amateurs and first-timers holds up well under all of those requirements. Andrew Miller suits the role of playboy Sky Masterson because of his good looks, but his voice doesn't quite have the strength of a leading man. (Brian Hinman as gambler Nicely-Nicely Brown proves to have a stronger stage voice with his rousing second-act performance of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). With that said, however, Miller fills the gap with honest acting; his performance of "Luck Be a Lady" is more stirring because we believe he's really praying for luck to be on his side. Ginny Carroll is wholesome as Sarah, and her sweet operatic voice fits the bill. Laurie Bowles is a sassy Adelaide, although her high-pitched Betty Boop voice could be a bit overwhelming at times.

The set, which changes in a few moves from a street scene to the inside of the mission, is brightly colored and fanciful, as are all the costumes. The only technical glitch of the night was with the spotlight, which seemed to have trouble tracking the singers. And, as usual, musicals at the Oak Ridge Playhouse are all the more enjoyable because of the six-piece band that provides accompaniment.

Could New York City ever really have been like it's portrayed in Guys and Dolls? The musical was first performed in late 1950, so perhaps Runyon didn't romanticize the Big Apple as much as it seems. Either way, Guys and Dolls can exist in stage history (or your CD player if you buy the Broadway soundtrack) to keep the spirit of a thriving city alive in our imaginations.