All dolled up
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I hereby present my case for “Guys and Dolls,” the coolest – and definitely the least lame – Broadway musical of all time. “Guys and Dolls” opens at the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre on Friday. Since it premiered in New York in 1950, this show has been a hit even among people who don’t normally like musicals.
I implore you to consider the following arguments:
“ It’s not about box socials or surreys with a fringe on top. It’s about gamblers.
“ The opening song contains the line, “I’m pickin’ Valentine, ‘cause on the morning line, a guy has got him figured at five to nine.”
“ That song is titled “Fugue for Tinhorns,” which may be the best Broadway song title of all time.
“ The second best Broadway song title of all time comes a little later in the show: “The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York.”
“ One of the characters is named Harry the Horse. Another is named Angie the Ox. Another is named Nicely-Nicely Johnson.
“ The all-female chorus is called the Hot Box Dolls.
“ The show is filled with classic Damon Runyon dialogue, such as: “Big Jule, you cannot interpolate Chicago dice into a New York craps game.”
“ One craps scene is played in a sewer.
“ The movie version featured two of the coolest stars of the 20th century: Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.
“ Frank Loesser’s score includes a song that Sinatra made into one of his signature tunes, “Luck Be a Lady.”
“ That song contains the classic line: “A lady doesn’t wander all over the room, and blow on some other guy’s dice.”
“ The show has a distinctive Rat Pack attitude, which is why the best recording of the score ever made features Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Bing Crosby.
“ The song “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat” is one of the best hand-waving gospel songs you’ll ever hear outside of a revival tent.
“ The female love interest is named Sgt. Sarah Brown.
“ The night after it opened on Broadway in 1950, one of the New York critics called it “smart as a sidewalk pigeon and as professional as Joe DiMaggio.”
So, guys and dolls of the jury, if you want to reach your own verdict, head over to the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre and catch this new production, under the direction of Roger Welch.
Loesser’s great score will be performed by an 18-piece orchestra in the pit, under the direction of Steven Dahlke.
Todd Hermanson, a veteran CdA Summer Theatre leading man, plays Sky Masterson. Peter Riopelle, whose TV credits include “The West Wing,” plays Nathan Detroit. Jadd Davis plays Nicely-Nicely Johnson.
Callie McKinney Cabe plays Miss Adelaide. Andrea Lutchendorf plays Sgt. Sarah Brown.
If you’ve seen “Guys and Dolls” before, than you know what kind of fun awaits. If you have never seen it, this could be a pleasant discovery.
As Frank Loesser would say, more I cannot wish you.