{"id":5418,"date":"2013-03-25T11:27:22","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T18:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=5418"},"modified":"2013-03-25T19:58:55","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T02:58:55","slug":"guys-and-dolls-disapoints-at-berkeley-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/guys-and-dolls-disapoints-at-berkeley-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"GUYS AND DOLLS DISAPOINTS AT BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Left)Miss Adelaide (c, Sarah Mitchell) and the Hot Box Girls (l-r, Catherine Duval Petru, Simone Olsen-Varela, Louise Barcellos) perform \u201cA Bushel and a Peck\u201d at the Hot Box Club.(Below) In Havana, Missionary Sarah Brown (front l, Angel Burgess) finally lets loose with Sky Masterson (front r, Carmichael J. Blankenship) after accidentally drinking a milkshake laced with rum, as onlookers (back l-r, Louise Barcellos, Lucas Brandt, Melissa Martinez, Matthew McCoy, and Leslie Waggoner) watch with amused interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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GUYS AND DOLLS: musical Comedy. Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Based on \u201cThe Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown\u201d and \u201cBlood Pressure\u201d by Damon Runyon. Directed by Jon Tracy. Musical Direction by Robert Michael. Choreography by Chris Black. Berkeley Playhouse, Julie Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 510-845-8542×351 or www.berkeleyplayhouse.org<\/a>. March 23 \u2013 April 28, 2013<\/p>\n

GUYS AND DOLLS DISAPOINTS AT BERKELEY PLAYHOUSE<\/p>\n

Berkeley Playhouse continues its fifth season with an energetic mounting of Guys and Dolls<\/em> one of the most beloved musical comedies ever to be produced. Although there were problems for the musical that arose between the concept finally reaching Broadway in 1950, none of those behind the scene hitches were detrimental and it played for 1200 performances winning a Tony Award for Best Musical. The shows luster has not diminished in the intervening 63 years and the present production bursts from the Julie Morgan stage and appears to be a labor of love.<\/p>\n

Jon Tracy\u2019s style of directing in a physical upbeat manner abounds and he has taken further control of the production by creating the scenic design in partnership with the talented Nina Ball (who happens to be his wife). A bare uncluttered center stage is very appropriate since much of the show consists of dancing to complement the incredible music and lyrics that carry the story line.<\/p>\n

That story line was based on two short stories, \u201cThe Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown\u201d and \u201cBlood Pressure\u201d written by sports columnist Damon Runyon. To refresh your memory the one of the major characters Sarah Brown (Angel Burgess), the leader of the evangelical Save Your Sole Mission situated in the more seedier side of New York City that is populated with rather loveable \u2018sinners\u2019 addicted to gambling. Nathan Detroit (Michael Scott Wells) is one of those sinners responsible for setting up illegal dice games for the local denizens. He has been sort of engaged to Miss Adelaide (Sarah Mitchell) a lead singer and dancer in the Hot Box revue. \u00a0Enter Sky Masterson (Carmichael J. Blankenship), the suave inveterate gambler who would bet on anything.<\/p>\n

The gambling denizens are mostly loveable, with the exception of Chicago hood Big Jule (Terry Rucker), include, to mention a few, Harry the Horse (Matthew McCoy), Angie the Ox (Lucas Brandt) Rusty Charlie (Aejay Mitchell) and the full bodied Nicely Nicely Johnson (Joshua Castro). The rest of the cast comes in and out of the wings without distinction.<\/p>\n

One wonders what director Tracy\u2019s concept for this show is and how it should be judged. He allows all the cast to over act with a great deal of mugging playing their roles for laughs. The dialog itself is loaded with laughs and does not require a blitzkrieg of physicality. There are plenty of laughs and intermittent great performances by individual cast members. Sarah Mitchell\u2019s Miss Adelaide was obviously an audience favorite but she had to share accolades with Joshua Castro\u2019s Nicely Nicely Johnson\u2019s belting of \u201cSit Down You\u2019re Rocking the Boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though Blankenship and Burgess have excellent voices the acting is a bit stilted and their loves scenes seem contrived without conveying charisma. The entire show is not aided by the costumes by the usually reliable Abra Berman who has elected to dress Sarah Brown and the evangelists in all white and the Hot Box girls in ludicrous garb.<\/p>\n

Despite the perceived onus, Guys and Dolls<\/em> with its plethora of words and music(\u201cI\u2019ll Know[when my love comes around]\u201d, \u201cA Bushel and a Peck\u201d, \u201cAdelaide\u2019s Lament\u201d, \u201cHavana\u201d, \u201cIf I Were a Bell\u201d, \u201cMy Time of Day\u201d, \u201cI\u2019ve Never Been In Love Before\u201d, \u201cTake Back Your Mink\u201d, \u201c More I Cannot Wish You\u201d \u201cLuck be a Lady\u201d, \u201cSue Me\u201d, \u2018Sit Down Your\u2019re Rockin\u2019 the Boat and \u201cMary the Man Today\u201d comes through as a great musical comedy. \u00a0Running time about a bit over two hours including an intermission.<\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/p>\n

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 (Left)Miss Adelaide (c, Sarah Mitchell) and the Hot Box Girls (l-r, Catherine Duval Petru, Simone Olsen-Varela, Louise Barcellos) perform \u201cA Bushel and a Peck\u201d at the Hot Box Club.(Below)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"