Civic does a rollicking 'Guys and Dolls'
Production does justice to one of the all-time classics of musical theater
Friday, January 13, 2006
BY JENN MCKEE
News Arts Writer
Where's the action? Where's the game?

At the Mendelssohn Theater, where the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre is currently staging "Guys and Dolls.''

Based on the stories of Damon Runyon, "Guys'' focuses on a commitment-phobic New York gambler, Nathan Detroit (Leo Babcock), who's got two problems: His nightclub-singer girlfriend, Adelaide (Caitlin Frankel), wants to end their 14 year engagement and get married; and he can't get the seed money necessary to retain a venue for a high-stakes craps game.

To solve the latter issue, Nathan makes a bet on what seems like a sure thing: He wagers $1,000 that savvy, big-time gambler Sky Masterson (Jeff DiFranco) can't get the straight-laced Salvation Army crusader Sarah Brown (Megan Bays) to accompany him to Havana that evening.

With irresistible music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and a charming book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, "Guys'' is a musical-theater gem, and for the most part, A2CT's production does it justice.

This is largely thanks to several fine vocal performances. DiFranco has a strong voice and makes Sky's challenging part - which spans a few octaves - seem effortless. Bays (a vocal performance student at U-M) sings marvelously, too, shown to best advantage in "If I Were a Bell'' and "Marry the Man Today.''

And as with past A2CT musicals, the men's chorus knocked me out, particularly during "The Oldest Established'' and "Luck Be A Lady.''

On opening night, they sounded just terrific.

Occasionally, however, soloists struggled to be heard over the ensemble and/or orchestra, and some of the acting and staging come off as a bit stiff.

Nonetheless, Frankel seems wholly at home in the role of Adelaide, portraying her as a well-liked, earnest woman who isn't deluded - she knows the score - but wants more for herself.

Also noteworthy, in smaller roles, were Jon Elliott as Lt. Branigan, the frustrated cop trying to catch the gamblers red-handed, and Edmond Reynolds as Big Jule, the gravel-voiced, bullying gambler from Chicago.

Brian Moultrup's set design is necessarily scaled-down but effective, featuring a stylized, cartoonish New York backdrop; the interior of a Salvation Army mission; the Hot Box night club; a bar in Havana; and a sewer.

Co-director Natalie Malotke's choreography, meanwhile, works best in "The Crapshooter's Dance,'' "Havana,'' and "Take Back Your Mink.''

All this is to say, if you're in the mood just now for a song and dance routine, follow the fold to "Guys,'' and stray no more.

"Guys and Dolls'' continues at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Lydia Mendelssohn Theater (in the Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave.).

Tickets: $24 ($21 for students and seniors). Tickets may be purchased by calling (734) 971-2228 or by visiting www.a2ct.org.