If you want to see the 1950 musical “Guys and Dolls,” with its wonderful score and lyrics by Frank Loesser and its carefully crafted characters based on Damon Runyon’s 1931 story of the same name, the place to go is San Francisco Playhouse.
As helmed by artistic director Bill English, with a terrific triple-threat (singing, dancing, acting) cast, dazzling choreography by Nicole Helfer, a live musical ensemble offstage (Dave Dobrusky, music director) and the kind of clever, multi-scene set design (by Heather Kenyon) that inspires audiences to applaud the set changes, this relatively small-scale production feels like the best way to experience a hit Broadway musical. Every word, every lyric, every facial expression and physical gesture registers clearly; the actors’ voices ring true; and there’s even a little room for audience interaction (more of that would have been welcome, too).
You may know the plot: Nathan Detroit (a convincingly sweaty, anxiety-ridden Joel Roster), who runs the “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York,” is desperately looking for a venue for his much-in-demand next game. Enter slick frenemy Sky Masterson (lanky David Toshiro Crane, so perfectly cast, so sinuous and mysterious). A bet is wagered between the two compulsive gamblers. Each is also involved with a fraught romance: Nathan and his longtime showgirl fiancée, Adelaide, with her chronic, psychosomatic head cold (a comically delightful Melissa WolfKlain with bouffant platinum tresses) and Sky and the prim Sgt. Sarah Brown of the Manhattan neighborhood’s Save-a-Soul Mission (Abigail Esfira Campbell, a petite redhead with a powerhouse voice that can effortlessly capture both joy and ferocity).
It’s inevitable that the book, by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, is outdated, although director English writes, in his program notes, that from our 21st-century viewpoint, the story explores the “binary of male versus female, good versus evil, saint versus sinner, and criminal versus the law.” Be that as it may, much of that exploration ranges from cringe-worthy to meh.
But the singing and both the comical and the deeply emotional characterizations by the 14-member cast give proof, if any were needed, that this theater company has a way not just with dramas and comedies but also with classical musicals. The cast is of course interracial, and some of the male characters are played by women to fine effect; especially excellent in that regard are Kay Loren as Nicely-Nicely, who absolutely nails a rollicking “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat,” and Jessica Coker as a tough, malevolent Big Jule.
In a musical with such iconic songs as the opening number, “Fugue for Tinhorns” (“I got the horse right here . . .”), Adelaide’s “A Bushel and a Peck” and Sarah’s ecstatic ode to love “If I Were a Bell,” it’s hard to choose favorites. But when Toshiro Crane sings “Luck Be a Lady,” his intensity and despair turn the prayerful tune into an unnerving life-or-death plea.
It’s that kind of full-throated, open-hearted commitment to the characters’ inner lives that elevates this “Guys and Dolls” — that, and Helfer’s inventive choreography; just wait for the gorgeous Cuban dance scene in Act 1.
“Guys and Dolls” continues through Jan. 13 at San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post St., San Francisco. Tickets are $15-$125 at (415) 677-956 or sfplayhouse.org.
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