Damon Runyon’s picturesque band of New York denizens continue to delight audiences almost seventy-five years after their Broadway debut in Altadena Music Theatre’s lively outdoor revival of the 1950 Broadway classic Guys And Dolls.

Based on a story and characters created by Runyon and adapted for the musical stage by songwriter Loesser and book writers Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, Guys And Dolls brings to infectious musical life the Fellas & Gals of a post-WWII Times Square.

There’s high-rolling gambler Sky Masterson (James Byous), who wagers he can convince virginal Save-A-Soul Mission “Doll” Sarah Brown (Elizabeth Eden) to join him on an overnighter to Havana.

There’s feckless but lovable gambler Nathan Detroit (Justin Anthony Long), ever on the lookout for a new venue for the “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.”

 And there’s Miss Adelaide (Margaret Spirito), headline dancer at the Hot Box Nightclub, whose engagement to Nathan has been going on for so long (fourteen years and counting) that it has caused the frustrated fiancée quite possibly the lengthiest psychosomatic cold on record.

Among the small-time gamblers who populate “Runyonland” are Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Jalen Friday), Benny Southstreet (Robert Manion), and Rusty Charlie (Zach McDonald) whose “Fugue For Tinhorns” not only expresses their devotion to sniffing out today’s winning horse but packs a harmonious bang.

Along for comic menace is aptly named Chicago kingpin Big Jule (Scott Van Tuyl), whose desire to win is every bit as massive as his nickname would suggest, something he makes sure to do by using dice that “ain’t got no spots.”

Will Sky be able to persuade Sarah to fly with him to Cuba? Will Nathan take advantage of the couple’s absence to hold tonight’s crap game inside the Save-A-Soul mission? Will Miss Adelaide convince Nathan to marry her and in so doing, finally get over her cold? Will Sarah find out Sky’s real name?

There’s hardly a musical theater aficionado who doesn’t know the answers to these questions, and even those who’ve never seen Guys And Dolls can probably win their own bet by correctly guessing the answers.

The pleasures in Guys And Dolls are not so much plot-related as in the memorable characters that Runyon created and that performers have relished bringing to life for the past seven and a half decades, that and song standards like “Luck Be A Lady,” “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat,” “I’ll Know,” and “I’ve Never Been In Love Before.”

A significantly trimmed-down “Runyonland” proves a disappointment to those who have seen the show’s iconic opening number fully staged, but that, and the decision made by director Doug Kreeger and choreographer Nico O’Connor not to make “Luck Be A Lady” the dance showstopper it’s intended to be are the productions only two major flaws.

Otherwise, Altadena Music Theatre’s fourth annual open-air production continues to make it clear that if Guys And Dolls has survived since the Truman administration, there’s a reason for its longevity, and Byous’s charismatic Sky, Eden’s lovely Sarah, Long’s rascally Nathan, and Spirito’s ebullient Miss Adelaide are all four absolutely fabulous, with solo and duet showcases to prove it.

Friday, Manion, and McDonald earn deserved cheers for the three-part harmonies of the showstopping “Fugue For Tinhorns,” and Friday brings down the house with revival meeting-ready “Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat.”

Brian Drummy and Van Tuyl are colorful as all get-out as Harry The Horse and Big Jule, Benita Scheckel delivers a heavens-reaching solo coda to “Sit Down” as General Matilda B. Cartwright, and Cesareo Perez’s Arvide Abernathy warbles a heartfelt “More I Cannot Wish You.”

Abby Loucks, Kasey Kentz, Courtney Macmillan, and Scarlett Sheppard are leggy song-and-dance treats as Miss Adelaide’s Hot Box Girls Leonel Ayala, Sage Prosper Cobos, Andreas Pantazis, and Jacob Rushing deliver the goods as assorted gamblers, and Will Kohlschreiber completes the multitalented cast as Lieutenant Brannigan.

Design standout Michael Mullen’s Techincolor-hued period costumes (from gangster chic to nightclub glitz) are stunners each and every one, especially as topped by Carter Thomas’s spiffy hair and wig designs.

Andrew Hull’s from-the-ground-up set (painted by Nicci Mercado) takes us from newsstand to rescue mission to Manhattan and Havana nightclubs in a jiff, Darcy Hill provides plenty of props along the way (including Big Jule’s guaranteed winning dice), and Billie Oleyar’s lighting is vibrant as can be.

Last but not least, Altadena Music Theatre’s Guys And Dolls features a bona fide live orchestra under the baton of music director Chris Wade.

Guys And Dolls is produced by Sarah Azcarate. Additional program credits are shared by JC Lara (lighting and sound director), Daren Graves (technical director), Erin McComb (assistant costumer), Laura Parada (prop assistant), Sabrina O’Reilly (production assistant), Gabrielle Perrea (fight director), and Alexa Lowery (intimacy coordinator).

Altadena Music Theatre’s Guys And Dolls may not be all a Guys And Dolls can be, but for those who’ve never seen the show, it provides a crowd-pleasing introduction to a musical that has justifiably stood the test of time. And even if you’ve seen a dozen productions like I have, it’s guaranteed to entertain.

Charles S. Farnsworth Park, 568 Mount Curve Avenue East, Altadena.
www.altadenamusictheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
October 17, 2024
Photos: Ezra Spurrier

Tags: Abe Burrows, Altadena Music Theatre, Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling, Los Angeles Theater Review