‘Guys and Dolls’ to rock CenterPoint Legacy Theatre
From left: Dave Masden as Nathan Detroit (MWF), Marissa Poole as Miss Adelaide (MWF), Gary Sorenson as Sky Masterson (MWF) and Sarah Boucher as Sarah Brown (MWF) in CenterPoint Legacy Theatre's "Guys and Dolls."
Jan Davis, left, as Nathan Detriot (TTHS) and Angie Call as Miss Adelaide (TTHS) in CenterPoint Legacy Theatre's "Guys and Dolls."
Jan Davis, left, as Nathan Detriot (TTHS) and Angie Call as Miss Adelaide (TTHS) in CenterPoint Legacy Theatre's "Guys and Dolls."
CenterPoint Legacy Theatre’s upcoming production isn’t your grandmother’s “Guys and Dolls.”
“I like taking the older musicals and turning them on their ear a little bit and giving them a fresh feel,” said Jennie Richardson, who is co-directing the show with her husband, Josh Richardson.
One of the first changes the couple made was trimming the show without straying from the script, since they felt it was too long, Jennie Richardson said.
And everything has a very comic book feel, she said, with a minimalistic, brightly colored set.
“It’s all very larger than life, very stylized, which is why I like this version,” Jennie Richardson said, admitting that “Guys and Dolls” isn’t one of her favorites, although her husband has loved the show for a long time.
“Guys and Dolls,” a 1950 Broadway musical, is set in New York City and based on two short stories by Damon Runyon, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure.” The musical’s music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser, and the book is by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. A film adaption was released in 1955, starring Frank Sinatra.
It follows gambler Sky Masterson as he tries to win a bet and Sister Sarah Brown’s determination to convert New York City’s sinners. The two unexpectedly fall for each other and realize that love has no boundaries. At the same time, the play tells the story of bachelor Nathan Detroit and his fiancee, Miss Adelaide, and their stress over being engaged for 14 years.
Jennie Richardson said most audiences tend to love Adelaide and Nathan, and seem to wait for them to come back onstage instead of rooting for Sarah, who seems snippy and judgmental, and Sky, who comes off hardened and lonely. So she and Josh Richardson are changing the way they’re presented, making Sarah a bit sweeter and Sky happier.
“(Sky) comes in in most productions being pretty hardened, and in this one he’s a little bit more amused by everything, a little bit more happy about things that are going on … he’s taken aback by this young lady who is quite lovely and had no idea there were people out there like this,” Jennie Richardson said.
For Amanda Rumsey, playing Sarah (in the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday cast) has been a challenge.
“She’s very complex, it’s been hard to find the balance between sweet … and yet passionate and strong and yet naive at the same,” she said. “But I like that because I enjoy a challenge.”
Her favorite part of the story is “that two very different people can look at each other and say that you’re you and I’m me, but I love you enough that I want to be with you.”
Jan Davis, CenterPoint’s executive director, who plays Nathan Detroit (in the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday cast), is a fan of the Damon Runyon style of literature and has always wanted an opportunity to perform in “Guys and Dolls.”
“I work as the executive director so I don’t get the chance to be onstage very often,” he said. “For me, it’s kind of one of those bucket list items that I’ve wanted to be involved in this show.”
Davis said playing Nathan and keeping his executive responsibilities has made his life busy.
“I mean, sometimes you feel like the theater ghost, you’re just always here. But it’s a good place to be,” he said.
His favorite part of playing Nathan is getting to portray his relationship with Adelaide.
“The thing I like about and the combination of he and Adelaide is they seem to be really broad characters, but at the root of everything they’re just two people trying to make it through and are in love,” Davis said.
Davis thinks the Richardsons’ decision to take the style of the show one step further brightens the story and brings a great mix of comedy and cartoon.
“It’s kind of interesting; I think a lot of us have grown up with the movie, for instance, and in a sense what they’ve done is kind of heightened it and that whole genre,” Davis said.
Rumsey said she loves the Richardsons’ version because it’s such a different take on the show.
“I love that because it takes an old classic, but it’s going to make people walk away and say: Oh my gosh, that was so different but so good to ‘Guys and Dolls,’ ” she said.
“Guys and Dolls” opens at CenterPoint, at 525 N. 400 West in Centerville, on Monday and runs through Sept. 5, showing at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Tickets are $17 to $23 and can be purchased by calling 801-298-1302 or visiting CPTUtah.org.
Contact reporter Sonja Carlson at 801-625-4229 or scarlson@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter @sonjacSE and like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SonjaCarlsonSE.
PREVIEW
- WHAT: ‘Guys and Dolls'
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday Aug. 10-Sept. 5
- WHERE: CenterPoint Legacy Theatre, 525 N. 400 West, Centerville
- TICKETS: $17-$23, CPTUtah.org or 801-298-1302