#1
Posted: 2/7/09 at 7:56pm
There are two productions of GUYS AND DOLLS on stage at the Nederlander Theatre. The first is the one starring Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit and Lauren Graham as Adelaide. The second is the one into which everyone else is amassed. Both are directed by Des McAnuff. The second is a solid out-of-town tryout. The first is a prime example of not enough rehearsal.
Platt and Graham are not bad. She sings very well for someone who isn't trained, and I've always had a crush on her. He's got stage presence. Neither has formed a character; they're still experimenting. Today, he was Nathan Detroit as played by Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden. She doesn't even have close to a definite character, delivering her lines in a stilted, halting manner that makes it seem like Adelaide has been lobotomized. Both are stiff and unsteady; her stage inexperience shows through her nerves. It's her nerves and unsteadiness combined that turn two potentially showstopping numbers, "Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink," into dead fish.
But the show comes alive with Craig Bierko as Sky and Kate Jennings Grant as Sarah. Move over Kelli and Paulo; Craig and Kate are infringing on your territory. Chemistry (yeah, chemistry!) oozes from their pores and every crevasse of their body. They sing very well, surprisingly, considering that this is her first Broadway musical and he went through THE MUSIC MAN in the Robert Preston school of speak-singing.
Grant, one of New York's most valuable stage actors, makes a stunning Broadway musical debut in a tough role and deserves all the recognition she is sure to get.
McAnuff's production is a fascinating, darker, more naturalistic take on the classic musical, in my opinion, the best musical ever written. The design is reminiscent of the CAROUSEL production that's currently playing in London: mammoth set pieces (designed by Robert Brill) that dwarf everything on stage (including two HUGE marquees (reading "Always Open 10 Shows A Day" and "BURLESK") that dwarf the stage itself and projections to punctuate backgrounds (designed by Dustin O'Neill).
While there are a great many moments where the production just lays there (whenever Platt and Graham are on stage), it is a strong example of how you can modernize a classic without really murdering it (hey there, Shinn, Parker, Rickson, Haimes!)
McAnuff's through-line for the show begins during the Overture (lovingly and carefully reorchestraited by Bruce Coughlin, with Ted Sperling creating incidental music), with Damon Runyon on stage, at a typewriter, typing out "Broadway Stories. By: Damon Runyon" (The colon is unnecessary.) "Damon" dances through the entire production, keeping a watchful eye on the action; so much so that, before "Marry the Man Today," Sarah's line "oh, go away" takes on a new meaning.
Being the third preview, McAnuff welcomed us with his trademark "this may be a train wreck" speech. I figured he would. In fact, there was a brief train wreck, during the Havana scene, where a set piece froze and had to be rolled out manually.
The pacing in the first act is deadly (at least, it is when Platt and Graham are on stage); the second is far stronger and swifter. Sergio Trujillo's choreography gives the ultra-skilled ensemble of dancers (John Selya, Nick Adams, Kerran Giovanni, among them) the chance to shine. But a sequence like the Crapshooter's Dance is dwarfed by a set that's far too large and looming and, quite frankly, looks like it was taken right out of Roundabout's PAL JOEY.
Steve Rosen and Mary Testa are the stars of the featured players; Titus Burgess is experimenting with accents, but he still manages to raise the roof off the joint with a soulful "Sit Down..." (thanks to Testa's presence) and "Guys and Dolls" (he and Rosen are a delight). Glenn Fleshler and Jim Ortleib and Adam LeFevre are strong in their roles and Ortleib manages to make a case for an otherwise throwaway song like "More I Cannot Wish You."
GUYS AND DOLLS and I go way, way back. I can't really describe how perfect a piece I believe it to be. I wanted to love this production; perhaps I should have waited until later in previews. Ultimately, I found it to be just fair, but enjoyable nonetheless. And if we take away anything from the production, it should be a new-found respect for one of NY's best unknown stage actresses, Kate Jennings Grant.
Platt and Graham are not bad. She sings very well for someone who isn't trained, and I've always had a crush on her. He's got stage presence. Neither has formed a character; they're still experimenting. Today, he was Nathan Detroit as played by Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden. She doesn't even have close to a definite character, delivering her lines in a stilted, halting manner that makes it seem like Adelaide has been lobotomized. Both are stiff and unsteady; her stage inexperience shows through her nerves. It's her nerves and unsteadiness combined that turn two potentially showstopping numbers, "Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink," into dead fish.
But the show comes alive with Craig Bierko as Sky and Kate Jennings Grant as Sarah. Move over Kelli and Paulo; Craig and Kate are infringing on your territory. Chemistry (yeah, chemistry!) oozes from their pores and every crevasse of their body. They sing very well, surprisingly, considering that this is her first Broadway musical and he went through THE MUSIC MAN in the Robert Preston school of speak-singing.
Grant, one of New York's most valuable stage actors, makes a stunning Broadway musical debut in a tough role and deserves all the recognition she is sure to get.
McAnuff's production is a fascinating, darker, more naturalistic take on the classic musical, in my opinion, the best musical ever written. The design is reminiscent of the CAROUSEL production that's currently playing in London: mammoth set pieces (designed by Robert Brill) that dwarf everything on stage (including two HUGE marquees (reading "Always Open 10 Shows A Day" and "BURLESK") that dwarf the stage itself and projections to punctuate backgrounds (designed by Dustin O'Neill).
While there are a great many moments where the production just lays there (whenever Platt and Graham are on stage), it is a strong example of how you can modernize a classic without really murdering it (hey there, Shinn, Parker, Rickson, Haimes!)
McAnuff's through-line for the show begins during the Overture (lovingly and carefully reorchestraited by Bruce Coughlin, with Ted Sperling creating incidental music), with Damon Runyon on stage, at a typewriter, typing out "Broadway Stories. By: Damon Runyon" (The colon is unnecessary.) "Damon" dances through the entire production, keeping a watchful eye on the action; so much so that, before "Marry the Man Today," Sarah's line "oh, go away" takes on a new meaning.
Being the third preview, McAnuff welcomed us with his trademark "this may be a train wreck" speech. I figured he would. In fact, there was a brief train wreck, during the Havana scene, where a set piece froze and had to be rolled out manually.
The pacing in the first act is deadly (at least, it is when Platt and Graham are on stage); the second is far stronger and swifter. Sergio Trujillo's choreography gives the ultra-skilled ensemble of dancers (John Selya, Nick Adams, Kerran Giovanni, among them) the chance to shine. But a sequence like the Crapshooter's Dance is dwarfed by a set that's far too large and looming and, quite frankly, looks like it was taken right out of Roundabout's PAL JOEY.
Steve Rosen and Mary Testa are the stars of the featured players; Titus Burgess is experimenting with accents, but he still manages to raise the roof off the joint with a soulful "Sit Down..." (thanks to Testa's presence) and "Guys and Dolls" (he and Rosen are a delight). Glenn Fleshler and Jim Ortleib and Adam LeFevre are strong in their roles and Ortleib manages to make a case for an otherwise throwaway song like "More I Cannot Wish You."
GUYS AND DOLLS and I go way, way back. I can't really describe how perfect a piece I believe it to be. I wanted to love this production; perhaps I should have waited until later in previews. Ultimately, I found it to be just fair, but enjoyable nonetheless. And if we take away anything from the production, it should be a new-found respect for one of NY's best unknown stage actresses, Kate Jennings Grant.
Updated On: 2/7/09 at 07:56 PM
