Don’t miss Cabrillo’s ‘Guys and Dolls’

NOW PLAYING—Alet Taylor, left, and Barry Pearl portray Adelaide and Nathan respectively in Cabrillo Music Theatre’s production of “Guys and Dolls” continuing through Sunday at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks. Cabrillo Music Theatre rolled the dice on a new production of the classic musical “Guys and Dolls,” and the result is a mostly splendid rendering of Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows’ uproarious send-up of Damon Runyon’s New York during Prohibition.

Named by critics as one of the most perfect musical comedies to hit Broadway, “Guys and Dolls” features a scintillating score by Frank Loesser and was a smash during the 1950-51 Broadway season, winning five Tony awards, including Best Musical.

Runyon (1880–1946) was a newspaperman and novelist who created a bevy of memorable character types, all associated with the sleazier elements of Manhattan lowlife: gamblers, pickpockets, hustlers and hookers.

The “guys” spoke out of the corners of their mouths in present tense only, avoided contractions and possessed colorful nicknames, while gum-smacking “dolls” dressed provocatively and were labeled “tomatoes” or “broads.” Runyon’s “dese, dem and dose” speech became so pervasive, it is now readily associated with the streetwise slang of New York and New Jersey.

All of this comes second nature to Barry Pearl, the show’s Nathan Detroit, a small-time gambler and organizer of “The Oldest Established Floating Crap Game in New York.” Nathan fits Pearl like a shiny pair of spats. It’s obvious that “good old reliable Nathan” is one of Pearl’s favorite roles, and he is superb as he carries out his dice-shooting exploits while dodging the proposals of his marriage-minded fiancee, Miss Adelaide.

The addle-brained Miss Adelaide is played by Alet Taylor, and for the most part she is wonderful. But her beautiful singing voice makes it difficult for her to stay in her whiny, ditzy character. She also shows little evidence of the nagging cold Adelaide is supposed to have, a central feature in her main solo number, “Adelaide’s Lament.”

Jessica Bernard, who shone as Jellylorum in “Cats” this past summer, is magnificent as the prim social worker, Sarah Brown. Her best moments come when she becomes tipsy after drinking a Bacardi-laced milkshake in a Havana nightclub, lets down her hair, and sings the lovely “If I Were a Bell.” Her performance is warm, funny and vulnerable.

As the suave high-roller Sky Masterson, Jeff Griggs uses his booming baritone voice to great effect in the show’s most celebrated scene: the crap game in the sewer where he sings “Luck, Be a Lady.” But playing against Pearl and the other gamblers, Griggs comes off more like a Southern plantation owner; he’d be better suited as Emile de Becque in “South Pacific.” Griggs barks all of his lines like John Carradine, with barely a hint of Runyon in his characterization.

Jessica Bernard is so good as Sarah, though, that she brings out the best in Griggs in their scenes together, especially in Act II.

Nova Safo, a tenor who hails from the opera world, does a great job as Nicely-Nicely Johnson on the rollicking “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” but his diminutive stature is far from the rolypoly, good-natured glutton made famous by Stubby Kaye.

Three standouts among the show’s other characters include Jay Weber as Harry the Horse (with an authentic “Joisey” accent), the always uproarious Farley Cadena as General Cartwright and Paul Zegler, who plays Sarah’s Irish foster father, Arvide Abernathy. Zegler’s solo on “More I Cannot Wish You” is both charming and heartwarming.

With a full orchestra ably led by Darryl Archibald, fabulous sets and sizzling choreography, “Guys and Dolls” is a natural. Bet the house on it.

“Guys and Dolls” plays through Sun., Oct. 25 at the Fred Kavli Theatre. For ticket information, call (805) 449-ARTS (2787).