"GUYS AND DOLLS," through Sept. 1, Randall L. Jones Theatre, W. College Ave, Cedar City (435-586-7878 or bard.org); running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (one intermission)
CEDAR CITY — The "good old reliable" musical "Guys and Dolls" didn't fail to please audiences at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
The classic musical, which premiered in 1950, is defined by Quinn Mattfeld, who plays Nathan Detroit, as the Shakespeare of musical theater because, he said in an interview with the Deseret News, it defined all the musicals that came after it.
It's easy to see why; it's purely enjoyable. It has spot-on humor, romance and songs that you'll be singing for hours afterward.
Utah Shakespeare Festival portrayed it all well with a gorgeous New York City backdrop, excellent acting and singing and, in particular, a darling opening scene that set the tone for the nostalgic time period and setting. This scene started with a record player getting the music going, then had sailors, a woman walking a fake Shih Tzu (which the audience adored, as they always seemed to adore dogs), Western cowboy tourists and more New Yorkers all running across the stage and through the aisles.
But the fact that this musical is almost 70 years old does show a little in the way gender roles are portrayed. It's something a lot of audience members might not even notice, but Miss Adelaide's (Melinda Parrett) entire worth and happiness is based on whether she can convince Nathan, her fiancé of 14 years, to actually marry her. Meanwhile, Nathan spends the whole musical acting like getting married will ruin his life and lying to Adelaide about continuing his gambling habits.
The scene that might be most jarring to modern audiences is when Sky Masterson (Brian Vaughn) and Sarah Brown (Alexandra Zorn) fly to Havana and Sky gives Sarah alcohol and lies about it, telling her it's milk. Though he doesn't necessarily take advantage of her afterward, he certainly enjoys how this loosens her up, and there's something uncomfortably violating about the whole situation.
Of course, none of this is Utah Shakespeare Festival's fault, but it still feels uncomfortable to laugh at these situations that are actually really sad. Perhaps it's meant to be looked at as satire.
Also, the musical certainly doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, meaning that at least two women talk to each other about something other than a man. The scene Sarah and Adelaide have together is exclusively about men, while the men in their lives spend a lot of time talking about gambling and many other things besides the women they love.
The actors still did an excellent job. Zorn, in particular, shone as a complex and charming Sarah. Her best scene was actually after she gets drunk in Havana. She's goofy and sweet, and it's just a pleasure to watch how she lets the character open up and finally be who she is. Vaughn also does an excellent job of showing Sky's development so it's (slightly) more believable that he could completely change by the end. Mattfeld's Nathan is a little sillier and friendlier than, say, Frank Sinatra's interpretation, and it makes his interactions with Adelaide more genuine and light-hearted. Parrett is also hilarious and relatable as Adelaide.
Overall, this is an excellent production of a show that has some themes that might be getting out of date. But it's an enjoyable musical that, perhaps, can leave you thinking about how far American society has come with gender roles and where we still need to go.
Content advisory: "Guys and Dolls" portrays scantily clad showgirls, gambling, a gun and some mild violence.