Theatre review: This Vancouver Guys and Dolls production is a knockout

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Guys and Dolls

When: To June 30
Where: Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Tickets and info: From $39 at artsclub.com

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The quintessential New York musical, set among the gamblers and small-time gangsters of Broadway, Guys and Dolls has long been one of my favourite shows. I’ve seen several excellent productions and loved the movie starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Vivian Blaine. I know almost all the songs by heart. So my bar was set very high for the Arts Club’s version, staged by artistic director Ashlie Corcoran.

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I can sum up my reaction in one word: knockout. This is as handsome a production as I’ve seen, with a brightly lit, marvellously versatile Times Square-ish set by Scott Penner, cheesily handsome costumes by Christine Reimer, and Shelley Stewart Hunt’s imaginative choreography in support of a terrific ensemble cast of 24 crowned by Madeleine Suddaby’s magnificent star turn as Miss Adelaide.

One plot line follows Nathan Detroit (Josh Epstein), engaged to showgirl Adelaide for 14 years, who needs a venue for his crap game. The other concerns gambler Sky Masterson (Jonathan Winsby), trying to win a bet with Nathan by winning the heart of Salvation Army Sgt. Sarah Brown (Chelsea Rose). Guys and Dolls premiered in 1950 and those plots mostly follow 1950s gender norms: though in love with their dolls, the guys want to stay single and free; the dolls in turn want conventional marriages, though neither woman is conventional.

Frank Loesser’s music and lyrics, among the best Broadway has ever produced, have hardly dated at all. Ken Cormier’s seven-piece band gives the upbeat score a full, dynamic sound. And with only a couple of exceptions, Loesser’s songs are witty, snappy, and not terribly demanding except for the Sky-Sarah love ballads that test Chelsea Rose’s high soprano. Those ballads are fine, featuring Winsby’s leading-man baritone. But Rose really shines in the energetic Havana sequence, her solo If I Were a Bell, and her duet with Adelaide, Marry the Man Today.

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As Nathan, Shapiro shows great comic timing. He leads the ensemble on The Oldest Established and holds his own with Adelaide in their comic duet, Sue Me. Other standouts include Tenaj Williams’ Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Daniel Curalli’s Benny Southstreet in the Fugue for Tinhorns and especially the title song, accompanied by their exciting dance moves. Williams’ bravura lead as Nicely-Nicely on the house-wrecking gospel-like Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat is a highlight.

The ensemble itself is definitely a star: exhilarating gamblers, funny Salvation Army stalwarts, and Hot Box nightclub dolls, their singing and dancing showcased by Corcoran’s brisk staging and Hunt’s high-tempo choreography.

But Suddaby’s hilarious, heartbreaking Adelaide steals the show. Her needy relationship with Nathan is comically balanced by her natural dignity. She and the Hot Box girls dazzle in their two numbers, especially Take Back Your Mink. And what can I say about Adelaide’s Lament? One of the cleverest of all Broadway ditties, it provides a psychosomatic explanation for Adelaide’s coughing, sneezing and adenoidal Noo Yawk vocals. Suddaby absolutely kills it. “Just for waiting around for that little band of gold,” she tearfully sighs, “a person can develop a cold.”

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The Canucks may have left us heartbroken but Guys and Dolls will restore your faith that the good guys, and dolls, will win out in the end.

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