Musical of the Week: Guys and Dolls

We have a few annual theatregoing traditions that, despite not all being Christmas-related, feel like the holiday season to me because they take place every December. We always see the Ford's Theatre version of A Christmas Carol, we (used to, until the new administration took over) go to the Kennedy Center to see The Improvised Shakespeare Company, and, pre-pandemic, we would always see a new production of The Santaland Diaries. By the way, what happened to that?

And, after years of conditioning by Arena Stage, I like to see a classic musical every Christmas. They feel like watching a movie with my grandmother. Arena doesn't have that centerpiece in their season anymore, so I'm glad that Shakespeare Theatre Company has taken the torch and is, now through the new year, running an excellent production of Guys and Dolls.

As is true for everyone around the holidays, we've been extra busy lately, so we tried moving our tickets to January when things open up a bit. About 15 minutes after I put in my exchange request (the benefits of having a subscription), it was announced that Julie Benko, who is playing Sarah Brown in the show, would not be performing in the extension because she's joining the Broadway production of Ragtime. With egg on my face, I immediately moved our tickets back to the original date. She was a selling point, after all.

And I'm glad I did. We've been hearing of Benko's brilliance for a few years now, and we didn't want to miss the (last, probably) time she performed in D.C. She has that classic leading lady feel, and shines in a production that gives me exactly what I want from a Golden Age musical.

I had never seen Guys and Dolls before, only knew a handful of the songs, and gave up on reading the Damon Runyon collection of the same name (just not my thing), so most of the show was new to me. This was an excellent production for an introduction. Benko pairs well with crooner Jacob Dickey as Sky Masterson, Rob Colletti (I knew I recognized him, his bio reminds me of the unfortunate Broadway production of Almost Famous) was quite funny as Nathan Detroit, and it was nice to see some D.C. favorites, like Lawrence Redmond and Holly Twyford, join these New York actors.

But the real highlight for me was Hayley Podschun as Miss Adelaide. Funny, sweet, and with the perfect affect for this classic mid-century blonde character. She's like the human embodiment of Turner Classic Movies. After one of her Laments, the woman behind me groaned, "Ugh, I can't stand her." I thought that was so telling of what a buzzkill that lady is. She's supposed to be a little annoying...that's why she's so cute!

This seems to be a big hit, sold out performances and an extension and good reviews and a strong reception, so I'm hoping shows like this become a permanent part of the STC season, like it was for Arena back in the day. I need Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe and Porter and Berlin and Loesser this time of year.

ShakespeareTheatre.org