Font ResizeNo ifs, ands or buts about it: Go see "Guys and Dolls" at Pacifica Spindrift Theatre. It's that good. It's that funny. It's that uplifting. It's all that and more.
Director Dave Sikula found the perfect cast and added his own off-kilter style of madcap humor to give Pacifica Spindrift the best production it's mounted in a long while. The tiny, off-the-beaten-path theater company that has always had a lot of heart really comes through this time.
Some of the Peninsula's best actors coalesced for this love story played out amid petty criminals, gamblers and Salvation Army-like volunteers in mid-20th-century New York. It originally opened on Broadway in 1950, played for 1,200 performances, and won five 1951 Tony Awards including the one for best musical. Five years later it was made into a movie with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.
So what is its relevance in 2009? For one, you can't help loving the music. Older audience members will fondly remember the likes of "A Bushel and a Peck," "Luck Be a Lady," "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "I've Never Been in Love Before." In the meantime, younger spectators get the opportunity to experience the marvelous music and lyrics of Frank Loesser.
Where to begin with this gifted cast? Start with Pidge Meade, who owns a crystal-clear voice and brings a sweet wistfulness to her plain Jane role, Sister Sarah Brown. Meade really lets her hair down, figuratively and literally, during the Havana
As Sky Masterson, dapper Dan Kaplan sweeps Meade off her feet as the two totally wrong-for-each-other lovers discover they are perhaps meant to be together after all. What's even more special is to see two middle-aged leads put such pizazz into their romantic scenes that female audience members were literally swooning. Kaplan's voice is a tad thin, but he easily overcomes this with charisma and charm.
Then there's longtime Peninsula veteran Bobbi Fagone, who slips into the ditzy-but-sweet role of Miss Adelaide as easily as she slipped into a New York accent and some gorgeous satin costumes (courtesy of costume mistress Shannon Maxham). There's also Ben Latham who nicely takes on the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson (and who owns one of the best voices in this tuneful cast). As usual, George Mauro (playing Nathan Detroit) gives a solid comic performance and also shows he has a pleasing voice.
Another pleasant surprise was the orchestra, which performs onstage and is directed by the talented Alex Bootzin, who also confidently played the role of master of ceremonies.
Anyone who has been to a play at PSP knows that staging can sometimes make or break the audience's enjoyment. This one works. The HotBox nightclub is cleverly turned into the "Save-a-Soul' mission, and actors liberally use the aisles entrances and exits.
The six HotBox girls add a lot of spice to the production, particularly in their feathered outfits for "A Bushel and a Peck," even doing a short Cancan.
Other musical highlights were Figone's "Adelaide's Lament" and (with the HotBox girls) "Take Back Your Mink," and the ensemble's "The Oldest Established Crap Game."
Excellent performances are also turned in by Jeff Gee as Benny, Henry Sellenthin as Arvide, and Marti Coyne as General Cartwright. Sterling Wolper, who doubled as choreographer, also has a nice turn as the Cuban dancer.
As Nathan Detroit would say, "Hey, what's not to like?"
