While the "Wizard of Oz" and "Footloose" were entertaining, Wagon Wheel's production of "Guys & Dolls" offers the most laughs and chemistry for your money so far this season.
You'll leave with a smile on your face and music in your heart.
Opening night Wednesday, everything seemed so in sync, except for a short mic problem early in Act I. But that was taken care of and the show went on.
"Guys & Dolls," set sometime in the 1940s, centers around gambler Nathan Detroit (Ben Dicke). He's looking for $1,000 to pay for a night of craps. For 14 years, Detroit has been engaged to Miss Adelaide (Jennifer Dow). The long engagement has caused the development of a psychological cold in Adelaide.
If you've ever seen Dicke and Dow play opposite each other before, you know how much chemistry on stage they have. They have the kind of mojo that you might see on a good television sitcom. And have Dicke play a gangster, with Dow as his woman, and you'll have found the perfect situation for their talents.
In Act II, Adelaide and Detroit sing "Sue Me." Dow and Dicke capture the emotions and moment well while performing the duet.
Adelaide and Detroit aren't the only main characters in the story, of course.
To get some money, Detroit bets fellow gambler Sky Masterson (Clay Sanderson) that he can't make the next girl he sees fall in love with him. That girl is Sarah Brown (Jennie Sophia). Brown works at the local mission, and she's as naive and innocent as a girl can get in 1940s New York. But Masterson doesn't count on love, and Brown doesn't want a gambler for a husband.
It's always a privilege to listen to Sophia sing. She has some amazing vocal talent. However, when Sophia is acting and singing as Miss Brown in the Havana, Cuba, scene, it's one of the funniest sequences of the musical. Brown gets drunk on dulce de la leche in Cuba, and Sophia plays it perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Havana dancing, singing and acting scene, especially Sophia's performance in it and her singing of "If I Were a Bell."
Sanderson impressed as the reverend in "Footloose." In "Guys & Dolls," he continues to showcase his talent. He has this authority in his voice that makes you sit up and listen, so it's no wonder he plays the gambler all other gamblers listen to. You'll want to follow Sanderson's career and see where his talents lead him.
There are a lot of supporting gamblers and gangsters in "Guys & Dolls." But there are three specifically who stand out.
Two of those are Nicely-Nicely Johnson (John Rapson) and Benny Southstreet (Mark Ayesh).
When I think of mid-20th century gangsters, I tend to think of the comical-looking gangsters found in the 1990 "Dick Tracy" movie (I've seen it a million times). Ayesh could have been in that movie. He plays Southstreet so weasley with that voice that you couldn't ask for anyone else to do the role. It was as if Southstreet was lifted right off the page of a "Dick Tracy" comic and slapped onto the Wagon Wheel stage.
And Ayesh and Rapson play well off each other. If you've seen Rapson in "Wizard of Oz" as the Emerald Guard or in "Footloose" as Willard, you're full aware of the talent Rapson is capable of displaying. In "Guys & Dolls," he does it again.
For the third supporting gambler, there's Andy Robinson as Big Jule. Just watch him in the Missions scene in Act II. That's all I need to say. You'll know.
Costumes set this show in the appropriate time and place. Martin Chapman-Bowman, costume designer, works his magic again on "Guys & Dolls."
My rating of the show (out of four): 3.95.
For more information and ticket prices, call 574-267-8041; toll free, 866-823-2618; or online at www.wagonwheeltheatre.com
