The Reviews Are In...
...on the latest Guys And Dolls revival, and they're not good.
In the one that counts, Ben Brantley of The New York Times thinks the production is stiff and the leads have no chemistry. Will it run anyway? We'll see.
PS Brantley writes:
Though this production mostly sticks to the original script, it has introduced one significant addition. That’s the silent presence of Damon Runyon himself (Raymond Del Barrio), who appears at the show’s beginning and end at his typewriter, and periodically pops up to observe the folks onstage. There is even a danced prologue called “Runyonland,” with the writer overseeing a Mack Sennett-style series of cops, robbers and lovers chasing one another.
It may have been significantly rethought by director Des McAnuff, but "Runyonland" (though not Runyon) has always been part of the show.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:11 AM
3 Comments:
I have never seen a stage production of Guys And Dolls, only the movie. Brando didn't seem to have much chemistry with poor Jean Simmons (or any other cast member) and somehow the whole thing is still entertaining. Maybe there's hope for this revival yet.
I just read the pan of this production in USA Today, and the writer went out of the way to attack Marlon Brando. Brando does a fine job in the movie. It's Sinatra who stinks up the place.
Though the film was a hit, just about everyone agrees it missed the magic of the show. That's why it's worth seeing live. It's so well wrought that even a local production should be a lot of fun. Just last year I saw a performance in North Hollywood that was so small they had a combo instead of an orchestra, but I loved it. As a bonus, they interploated the song Sinatra sings about Adelaide in the movie. (The original Nathan Detroit, Sam Levene, couldn't sing on key, so they gave almost all his songs to his henchman. When Sinatra got the role, they had to beef up the music, of course. BTW, years ago I was in a production in Ann Arbor. I played Harry The Horse. My friend Peter, who went on to Broadway stardom, was Benny Southstreet. My friend Taylor, who now appears in movies and TV, was Rusty Charlie.)
My guess is the latest Broadway revival doesn't match up to recent revivals, but, if you've never seen the show before, would be very entertaining. Certainly the songs and jokes can beat anything else on Broadway right now.
I'll have to look up the USAToday piece even though it's difficult for me to read any review of Runyon or Guys And Dolls without thinking of Ambrose Hammer from "The Melancholy Dane."
I have the original Broadway cast CD and am familiar with Levene's singing ability. Robert Alda is wonderful.
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