By Jennifer Mustoe
Friday night, my friend Cynthia and I went to the Hale Center Theater Orem’s Guys and Dolls. My friend, who doesn’t see many shows, was just excited to be there. I, a little more seasoned, went with high hopes and many expectations.
Neither of us was disappointed.
The Hale usually does an awesome job with their shows, so it’s not startling that Guys and Dolls would be up to their usual caliber. However, their stage isn’t what you’d call huge, so I was particularly interested in how they would take what can be a musical with a cast of many down to few and not make it look either smooshy with too many performers, or silly with only a few. Hale got it just right.
For those unfamiliar with this classic musical, it’s about, well, you know guys, most of them gamblers, and dolls, usually in the form of dance hall dancers. The other men and women belong to a tea totaling save your souls group who hope to bring the guys and dolls back to God. There are two romances, so there is the rom-com atmosphere, lots of music, and a little bit of wisdom thrown in for good measure.
The show begins with Nicely-Nicely Johnson, played winningly by Scott Rollins. Cynthia and I loved his physicality, his jovial nature, and his spot on Brooklyn accent – which was the best in the show. He is joined by a couple of gambling types, and then in come the Save-A-Soul group, led by Sarah Brown, played by the lovely Brittni Smith, whose darling face and lovely singing voice make her perfect for this part.
Sky Masterson, The Best Gambler Ever, played by Equity Actor Blake Barlow is slated to be the unlikely sweetheart to Sarah and so the story goes. Their connection onstage was great, though their musical duets were not as strong, which was workable considering Sarah’s character (until she gets drunk!) is rather repressed.
The other lovers are Nathan Detroit, played by Carter Thompson, and his fourteen-year fiancee Miss Adelaide, played by Kelly Hennesey. I will say right now that these two were my favorites, I drank in whenever they were onstage and if there was a show that had just these two characters, or these two fine, fine performers, I would try to see them multiple times. Thompson is so likeable, so genuine, has a great voice, amazing charisma…. Okay, I’m sort of gushing. And Hennesey? Oh. My. Gosh. Her squeaky voice, her mincing around, her sweet, innocence that then explodes when she gets sick of Nathan’s dawdling marriage plans are beautiful and delightful. (Do NOT get near her when she is carrying that big long purse!) This girl is going places. I’d like to be there to see her on her journey.
All the musical numbers were very good, but by far the best were any that included all the gamblers and male principles. Their harmonies were a thing of beauty. Kudos to Music Director David Smith. The sweetest number was “More I Cannot Wish You,” sung to Sarah by Arvide Abernathy, the father figure grampa in Save-A-Soul. This number wasn’t the best vocally, but Lon P. Keith’s gentle way with the sorrowing Sarah was tender and made me a little teary, a nice juxtaposition to all the silliness that Guys and Dolls is about.
The other number that stands out to me is the duet between Sarah and Adelaide. These two women, from opposite sides of the track, have one goal in mind: “Marry the Man Today.” This duet was adorable, very tight, and a pleasure to watch. The two actresses couldn’t be more dissimilar, which made it even more fun.
The production was tight, tight, tight and Director David Morgan had each of his actors doing a lot of very delightful stage business: lots of banter, movement, interacting with one another. There was a lot of energy, everyone stayed in character, and my suspension of disbelief was complete.
I had a few issues with the production, though they are small and remarkably picky. One is that there were some rather strange choreography numbers. All the ones that included Adelaide and her Hot Box Girls were a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. Choreographer Jennifer Hill-Barlow made those girls shine – their numbers were spunky, a little sexy, and super fun. However, I can only guess that most of the gamblers were not dancers because when the men’s musical numbers came up, there seemed to be only two featured dancers. In this show, it’s not completely necessary for that much dancing, especially in the smaller space. But during “Luck Be a Lady Tonight,” with all the gamblers throwing dice, there were two men sort of slicing through the craps game and it was distracting rather than artistic.
The other issue is even more minor, but it bothered me, so I’m mentioning it. As many people know, the Hale is famous for its costumes, and Guys and Dolls has some of the most gorgeous, colorful costumes around. Maryann Hill, Costume Designer, is a genius. However, for some reason, all the actresses in Guys and Dolls were wearing wigs. I can understand why, as this is a period piece and not everyone has hair that will work with these types of hairdos. But the wigs looked kind of fake and coupled with the fantastic costumes looked even stranger. And, I know this is my own freak-outedness, but I kept worrying that when the wonderful dancers moved, their wigs would come flying off. It could be I have little experience with wigs, I say drily…
All in all, I heartily recommend you go see Guys and Dolls. The kids will love it and so will you. It’s a fun experience in a lovely air-conditioned space with some of the nicest patrons around, and I am not even making that up. The Hale crowd is really affable and friendly, and I love going there.
Hale Center Theater Orem,225 West 400 North, Orem UT, 84057
801.226.8600 Evening Performances at 7:30 P.M. Saturday Matinees at 3:00 P.M. Weeknights – $18 “A seats” $16 “B seats” Weekends – $20 “A seats” $18 “B seats” *Children $4 less *Price includes processing fee
http://www.haletheater.org/
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