Theater Review: 'Guys and Dolls' at Downtown Cabaret

By Nancy Sasso Janis

The historic Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport is offering the classic musical fable “Guys and Dolls,” with book by Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. The musical is directed by Bradford Blake.

The musical is based on two short stories by Damon Runyon and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories concerning gangsters, gamblers, and other characters of the New York underworld in the 1920s and 1930s. Runyon was known for the unique dialect he employed in his stories, mixing highly formal language and slang, and this rhythm is carried into the musical.

The director makes wonderful use of the entire space of this unique theater space, with the actors frequently entering through the audience. The footsteps of the actors on the wooden floor herald their arrivals and a trap door complete with smoke suggests the sewers for the clandestine crap game. Blake has also added some “sight gags” to several of the scenes that punch up the comedy, although I noticed that the audience laughed often and loudly at all of the comedy in the script.

Blake has also assembled a stellar cast of local performers that bring what some consider to a “perfect musical comedy.”

Vincent McCoy, a West Conn graduate who is production manager at Spotlight Stage Company, is a standout as the handsome Sky Masterson. He fully embodies the gambler and his vocal talent shows in “My Time of Day” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.”

Benny Southstreet is brought to glorious life by the talented Jojo Devellis, an alum of the now closed NewArts arm of the 1214 Foundation. Devellis recently played Cliff in the excellent “Cabaret.”

Duane Lanham portrays the perpetually engaged gambler Nathan Detroit and John Michael Whitney does “nicely” in the fun role of Nicely Nicely Johnson in his Downtown Cabaret debut.
Jeannine Yoder is completely wonderful as she reprises her dream role of Miss Adelaide.

Teaching and performing artist Felicia Varvaras sings beautifully as Sarah Brown in her Downtown Cabaret debut and captures the essence of her “Mission doll” character. Mark Feltch gets to play Big Jule using his very deep voice and good comic timing.

Martin Garcia appears as the police Lieutenant Branigan keeping an eye on the antics of the gamblers. Missy Slaymaker-Hanlon, who played a Hot Box dance 35 years ago, is strong as she moves up to the role of the stalwart General Cartwright.

What a treat to see Tyler Panek as Big Jule’s associate Harry the Horse in a loud purple suit.
Panek, who served as one of the dance captions, is a UConn graduate who lives in Oxford. Nikolas Brannan portrays Rusty Charlie and Chris Hetherington (Herr Schultz in “Cabaret”) returns to this stage to play Sarah’s grandfather Arvide Abernathy (“More I Cannot Wish for You.”)

There is a fine, hardworking ensemble including Daniela Sawyer, Benji McClary, Erick Sanchez, Alexandra Cahhr, Mary Pelkey, Kenedy Morris (in her Cabaret debut,) Cassie Peterpaul, Sophie Katz, and Ariana Keller of Waterbury. Michael Young steps up to play an announcer.

The production is musically directed by Zachary Kampler, making the vocalists sound great with the musical tracks used. Choreography by Olivia Rivera is very good with some true highlights for the men in “Luck Be A Lady,” and the Latin dancers in “Havana.” I cannot recall a performance of “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat” with chairs instead of benches, but it worked.

David Kievit is credited with the scenic design which is augmented with projections of varying quality programmed by Axel Hammerman. Each of the leads were introduced at their stage entrances with a projection displaying their character’s name; unfortunately, from my seat, I didn’t notice them until the end of the line.

The costumes designed by Lesley Neilson-Bowman are evocative of the era and offer numerous changes for all of the characters. There are snappy hats for the guys and beautiful millinery for the dolls. Don’t miss the well-fitted pinstripe suit on Guy Masterson and the brown ensemble worn by Miss Adelaide. Special thanks goes to DB Productions and The Hartt School Costume Dept.

My companion and I enjoyed the performances and the great costumes and audience members always enjoy impressive spreads at their cabaret seating. “Guys and Doll” continues through Oct. 14, Fridays and Saturdays only.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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