In an earlier review of “Guys and Dolls,” I commented on how the incongruous title of the first number, “Fugue for Tinhorns,” exemplifies the musical’s Runyonesque style.
The fugue is an intricate classical form. Tinhorns are cheap and pretentious. The show’s gamblers speak in a language with the same mixture of high and low elements—polite, formal grammar on the one hand, aggressive underworld slang on the other.
Avoiding contractions and using present tense in storytelling are also characteristics of the Runyonesque style. Its creator and namesake, Damon Runyon, wrote the short stories on which Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling based the book for “Guys and Dolls.”
A brassy New York accent is the distinctive sound of Runyonesque speech, which I heard in the media often enough to recognize when I was growing up in the 1950s. For me, “Guys and Dolls” is inextricably linked with the sound of Runyonesque speech, but I think director James Monroe Iglehart made a sensible choice in not leaning heavily into accents for the current production of “Guys & Dolls” at Stages St. Louis. The traditional sound might seem excessive to people coming to the show without expectations.
It took a while for the Stages production to hit its stride on press night, but the second act brought a bumper crop of rip-roaring numbers, including
- “Take Back Your Mink,” by Katerina Papacostas’ Miss Adelaide, and the Hot Box Girls: Téah Juliette Bell, Anna Chin Marjorie Failoni, Maya Santiago.
- “Crapshooters Ballet” by the dance ensemble
- “Luck Be a Lady” by Sam Harvey’s Sky Masterson
- “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” by Tamar Greene’s Nicely-Nicely Johnson
Iglehart astutely brings the entire ensemble of men and women onstage for the prayer meeting—not just the 12 men Sky Masterson promised. The extra participants add to the fun of Greene’s splendid rendition of Nicely-Nicely’s great showpiece. The exuberant choreography is by Lindsay Joy Lancaster. Music director Dolores Duran-Cefalu conducts the accomplished orchestra.
The slow numbers also delight in Act II. John Flack is deeply moving in Arvide Abernathy’s “More I Cannot Wish You.” Katerina Papacostas is outstanding by herself in “Adelaide’s Second Lament” and in duets with Matthew Schatz’s Nathan Detroit (“Sue Me”) and Lindsay Roberts Greene’s Sarah Brown (“Marry the Man Today”).
Papacostas captures Adelaide’s Runyonesque sound without reducing her to a caricature. The singing by Schatz and Roberts Greene is enjoyable throughout.
Ann Beyersdorfer’s scenic design features brightly lit Broadway signs. Tim Kent designed snazzy costumes for the Broadway denizens. Sean M. Savoie’s lighting, Breanna Fais’ sound, and Paige Stewart’s wigs and hair enhanced the atmosphere.
“Guys and Dolls” continues through in the Ross Family Theatre at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 210 East Monroe Avenue.
—Gerry Kowarsky
Photo © Phillip Hamer Photography
From the left, Matthew Schatz as Nathan Detroit and Katerina Papacostas as Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls.”
