Blown away!
Those were the words that describe my feelings after watching the
opening number of Audience of One’s 2020 summer musical, “Guys and Dolls”. The purpose of the opening number, ”Runyonland/Fugue for Tinhorns"
is to show the seedy side of the streets of Time Square in 1950’s New
York City. The production’s entire cast portray these citizens in a delightful
and humorous fashion. Alex Dee’s
excellent choreography is almost like watching a silent movie of the old
Keystone Cops. I especially liked the
coming together of the entire cast in the middle of the number to offer
precision dancing to the “Can Do” refrain and then morphing back into their
original characterizations. And, wow, the hidden humor of watching the three newsboys
doing the choreography from last summer’s hit show, "Newsies", amidst
all the other dancers will bring a smile to your face. It was like one of those hidden Mickey
moments that you see at Disney World.
This
old juggernaut musical from 1950 is long and can seem at times to drag, but
under Angie Dee’s skillful direction the show comes alive for our modern day
audiences. The four leads are to be
commended for their part in making this such a successful show. Abi Williams, well remembered for her role as
Katherine in last summer’s “Newsies” brings both humor and pathos to her
character of Adelaide. Her rendition of
the classic “Adelaide’s Lament” was performed to perfection. Gracie Youngman brought her beautiful voice
to the role of Sarah Brown, the head of the Save-a-Soul Mission. Her duets with costar Nolan McKinney on two
of Frank Loesser’s heartwarming classics, “I’ll Know When My Love Comes Along”
and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” sends chills down your back as these two
beautiful voices bring alive these romantic ballads. Nolan McKinney and
Abe Gibson carry out their leads as Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit in admirable
fashion. McKinney at first did not seem to fit the role when he first appeared,
but grew into a likeable character as the show progressed. His “Luck Be A Lady Tonight’ was a highlight
and showed off his musical talents. Abe
Gibson carried the role of Nathan Detroit to perfection. His harried attempt to avoid marriage and
later capitulation to matrimony was a delight.
The
supporting characters and ensemble for this show are to be highly commended.
Alex Dee’s Nicely Nicely Johnson was...nicely nicely and his “Sit Down You’re
Rockin’ the Boat” was a stand up number. Braden Bruce as Rusty Charlie brought
excellent humor to his role as well as his wild dancing in the “Havana” number. Kudos also go to Lucas Blair as Harry the
Horse, Tanner Provencher as Big Jule and James Wier as Benny Southwest as well
as the other supporting cast members. Of
course, the wonderful Keith Heim as Arvide Abernathy did a beautiful rendition
of “More I Cannot Wish You”, one of the lesser numbers of the show but yet one of
the most delightful.
The
musical ensemble of the two big numbers for the Hot Box Girls was done to perfection. “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Take Back Your
Mink” are both songs reminiscent of their time period. All the young ladies
danced their hearts out for both numbers showing off Hope Beard’s night clubish choreography.
Excellent costuming brought realism to their numbers. The male chorus (and some females) for the “Guys
and Dolls” number and “Luck Be A Lady” were commendable. They pull out all the stops for the “Havana”
number and ended up showing off all the amazing talent of this show’s musical ensemble cast.
The
finale with the entire cast singing the title song summed up the outstanding and
talented voices that this show contained. Audience of One’s Guys and Dolls was
an absolute joy and pleasure to see.
The
show was presented live at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Lebanon, Tennessee
during two weekends in mid June 2020.
This review was based on the taped version of the show. Fortunately, this show is available for your
enjoyment on Youtube. Two versions are available, the Main Cast and the
Understudy Cast. This review was of the
Main Cast... Both versions are available below.
Just click away....
Main Cast
Understudy Cast
Rehersal for "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"
Rehearsal for "The Oldest Established"
Rehearsal for "A Bushel and a Peck"
Rehearsal for "Can Do"
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