Review: ‘Guys and Dolls’ a polished retro spectacle at Old Globe

July 8, 2017 12:45 PM PT

Bogus beggars, plunderous nuns, cops on the take, gamblers on the make: The fine people of “Guys and Dolls” work so many angles you have to plot their progress with a protractor.

And that’s just in the opening scene — a splashy tableau of gleeful street grifting that’s staged with plenty of midcentury-Manhattan grit and wit in the Old Globe’s crackling new revival of the musical favorite.

Such is the credo of full-time hustling that when a couple of two-bit touts witness the fervent Christian reformer Sarah Brown march through all the sordid goings-on, one of them is flummoxed by the prospects for flimflam in what he calls “the missionary dodge.”

So, in that spirit of genial, cheeky curiosity: What’s the Old Globe’s angle in putting up this show — for the first time ever? After all, this is a major regional theater that, when it comes to musicals, mostly launches new ones rather than trots out well-trod classics.

And “Guys and Dolls” is a classic that these days never gets done except by every high school and midlevel community troupe in America.

One answer was obvious on opening night at the Globe: Audiences adore this show. And for good reason: It’s got those can’t-miss Frank Loesser songs (“Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “Sue Me”) and a zippy book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on Damon Runyon’s sharp-tongued, street-wise stories.

But another rationale is also clear: The wisdom of keeping director-choreographer Josh Rhodes in the Globe fold.

Rhodes, who previously choreographed “Bright Star” (the Globe-bred musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell that went on to Broadway) and directed the theater’s world premiere of Ken Ludwig’s “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Story,” is a rising talent with a great feel for both individual character and polished, eye-popping spectacle.

He previously staged “Guys and Dolls” at Florida’s Asolo Rep, the Globe’s production partner on the show, and now puts up an almost entirely new cast for the Globe version — an effort that, while it doesn’t redefine the piece, certainly makes a case for this full-scale revival of the 1950 musical.

One cast returnee: The mighty (and mighty amusing) Audrey Cardwell, who unleashes crystalline, operatic vocals — and, eventually, some impressive dance chops — as Sarah, the show’s would-be soul-saver.

Sarah winds up losing her heart to Sky Masterson, the high-roller played here with an appealingly urbane verve by Terence Archie, previously seen at the Globe in “Twelfth Night.”

J. Bernard Calloway, the resident Grinch in the Globe’s annual holiday show, is a funny and flustered wonder as the tireless gambler Nathan Detroit, who’s harried and unmarried — just ask his fiancee of 14 years, Miss Adelaide.

Speaking of whom: Veronica J. Kuehn seems absolutely made for that role of the sweet and squeaky-voiced Hot Box show gal whose epic marital limbo with Nathan has given her a permanent case of the sniffles. She earns some of the show’s best laughs, particularly on the Act 2 numbers “Adelaide’s Second Lament” and “Sue Me.”

And for dedicated local theatergoers, one of the biggest treats is seeing a quartet of excellent San Diego actors make their Old Globe debuts: Lance Carter, pitch-perfect as the excitable Brooklyn hustler Harry the Horse; Ed Hollingsworth, in comically cranky mode as the cop Lt. Brannigan; Ralph Johnson, nailing a sweet solo vocal as the mission veteran Arvide on “More I Cannot Wish You”; and Linda Libby, a winning presence as the stern mission boss Gen. Cartwright.

Rhodes’ ensemble choreography on the Havana and “Crapshooter’s Dance” sequences is particularly rousing, boosted by the rich orchestral textures of music director Sinai Tabak’s band and Kevin Kennedy’s sound design. Brian C. Hemesath’s costumes — featuring a riot of plaid — are a visual feast, complemented by Paul Miller’s lighting on Lee Savage’s neon-mad set.

One of the few off notes to the show is the uneven way some cast members handle the mouthy, Runyon-inspired New Yahwk patois. That, and the occasionally cringe-inducing sexual politics that Rhodes and Co. can only do so much to dance around.

But as familiar as “Guys and Dolls” may be by now, the Globe’s take proves a fun trip back to the piece — from just about any angle.