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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. Guys and Dolls
The beloved musical by Frank Loesser (music and lyrics) and Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows (book) premiered on Broadway in 1950 and has been performed widely ever since. Its characters are drawn from the works of Damon Runyon (1880-1946), mostly the wiseguys and showgirls who populated Broadway in the years during and after Prohibition. The plot centers on two couples: Nathan Detroit (Rob Colletti), operator of "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York," and nightclub performer Miss Adelaide (Hayley Podschun), his longtime "fiancée"; and high roller Sky Masterson (Jacob Dickey), who–for reasons of the plot–pursues Sergeant Sarah Brown (Julie Benko) of the Save-a-Soul Mission. The casting is dead-on: Colletti is soft-spoken but, when faced with trouble, hilariously dyspeptic; Dickey is slick yet vulnerable; Benko displays a soaring voice; and Podschun nails the character's nasal voice and sexy yet sweet personality. Other standouts in the large cast are perpetually cheerful Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Kyle Taylor Parker), bullying Big Jule (Ahmad Kamal), and three longtime D.C. favorites: Holly Twyford as General Cartwright, Lawrence Redmond as Arvide Abernathy, and Todd Scofield as Lt. Brannigan. Zambello has envisioned the story as requiring something beyond a purely realistic staging (the musical's original subtitle was "A Musical Fable of Broadway"), and Walt Spangler has created a scenic design packed with sight gags and other surprises. At first the set looks simply like a cavernous thrift store in an empty storefront, but that's just the ground from which chorus girls appear, crapshooters turn their moves into muscular ballet, and the musicians conducted by James Lowe are sometimes visible upstage. Amith A. Chandrashaker's lighting design helps create the illusions, while Andrew Harper's sound design makes it all blend together beautifully. Guys and Dolls runs through January 8, 2026, at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW, Washington DC. For tickets and information, please call 202-547-1122 or 877-487-8849 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org. Based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon Cast (in alphabetical order): |
