Show has flashes of greatness

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 7, 2001

It's difficult to do a bad version of Guys and Dolls, the Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows classic that opened Friday for a six-week run at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson.

The 51-year-old show is so full of interesting characters and terrific songs -- A Bushel and a Peck, If I Were a Bell, to name a couple -- that it almost does itself.

The real challenge is to do a great Guys and Dolls, and the Show Palace version has moments when it rises to that level.

That's usually when either David Jachin Kelley is on the scene as Sky Masterson, the smooth and cynical bet-on-anything charmer, or Antonia Nozicka is flouncing around as the ever-optimistic Miss Adelaide, the lead singer at the Hot Box Club who has put up with the flighty Nathan Detroit (Tom Bengston) through a 14-year engagement.

Kelley's baritone and shoulder-pulled-back physical stance give Sky the unapproachable look he must have when he first courts Sister Sarah (Laura Anne Hodos) and makes his "reformation" that is much more effective at the end when he seems to let down his guard.

The most notable thing in this production, though, is director Steven Flaa's decision not to have his players do the traditional clipped, precise, exaggerated speaking cadence that has long been a trademark of this Damon Runyon based musical about the colorful characters who inhabited this particular slice of Broadway.

Guys and Dolls, at Show Palace Dinner Theatre today through Nov. 11. Matinees and evenings Wed.-Sun. Dinner and show, $35.95; show only, $24.95. Ages 12 and younger, $19.95 and $14.95. Call (727) 863-7949 or (888) 655-7469.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright