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| Stages closes out their season
with the Frank Loesser classic, Guys and Dolls. With the usual
Stages flair, this show highlights a strong cast, strong direction and strong
dancing. It's just a delight to watch any Stages show. With the colorful line up of Damon Runyon characters in Guys and Dolls, the most thankless jobs in musical comedy are the roles of Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown. These romantic leads get to sing some of the greatest Loesser music, but their characters tend to fade in the background when we see the likes of Nathan Detroit, Adelaide and Nicely Nicely Johnson- not to mention the cavalcade of minor guys and dolls moving about in this colorful era. Fortunately Stages has secured the talents of Edward Watts and Kate Fisher for the lead roles. He moves easily from the difficult task of being "love 'em and leave 'em" gambler to pouring out his heart to Sarah. And Kate Fisher shines in the specialty number, "If I Were A Bell." This show belongs to the supporting cast, however. David Foley, Jr. channels Nathan Lane - in a good way - as the ubiquitous Nathan Detroit. And Julie Cardia is simply superb as Miss Adelaide. Not only does she shine in the Hot Box numbers but she brings down the house while she simply sits and sings the classic "Adelaide's Lament." Edward Juvier returns from his hilarious romp as Aldolpho in Drowsy Chaperone to score once again as Nicely Nicely. Already an outstanding number, Mr. Juvier brings "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" to new heights. And speaking of great numbers, it's always great to see a stage production of this show since the movie version - despite it's bad casting - chose to cut the show's most beautiful song, "I've Never Been In Love Before." Michael Hamilton hits the mark once again bringing the small Kirkwood stage to big and glorious life and Dana Lewis hits all the right notes as choreographer. How can you lose with the Stages' fantastic dance ensemble? It's you're last chance this year to see another fantastic Stages show. Catch Guys and Dolls through October 4th. This is Steve Allen with theatre in St. Louis for CLASSIC99. |
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