Shakespeare Theatre Company’s new musical is so hot, the run was extended before it even started.
What a fabulous Christmas gift, especially for the hard-to-please in the DMV, and I think there are a few of them around.
The dancing! The fun! Vitality and costumes. Oh, my! Broadway stars come out to shine.
Joshua Bergasse’s choreography has the men doing splits in the air in their 1930s suits which made me wonder how they pulled that off, keeping their pants from tearing? One who dances non-stop with a cigarette hanging from his mouth!
The audience’s enthusiasm for these gangsters in motion even exceeded that for the gals who wooed us all with their high kicks and sparkly, barely there number “down under.”
The whoops! The gasps!
It’s all about the two ends of morality, so to speak: The do-gooders and the not-so-do-gooders who come and clash and find out if the winsome lady, Sarah Brown (Julie Benko) at the Save-A-Soul Mission is, indeed, so high up on her pedestal, would she even consider descending to join a questionable man?
One from a different side of the tracks, so to speak, but one who’s as handsome as Sky Masterson (Jacob Dickey) would be hard to resist.
These “guys and dolls”* are about change and changing others to make them how you want them to be. Easy, isn’t it? Can’t we accept who they are?
Meanwhile, the adorable and frilly Adelaide (Hayley Podschun) wants to remake Nathan (Rob Colletti) and cut out his gambling, Nathan with promises, promises of 14 years (!) to marry, this twosome about as mismatched as a Rockette and a monk. She is cute and trim, and he is, well, not so much. (It must be love.)
After all, they’ve had five babies and one on the way!
What’s to change him now?
How about a bet to raise $1,000 immediately and pay for the gambling hall if chief winning gambler Sky will only take on the wager of taking Ms. Prim and Proper to dinner in Havana?
Havana?
Let’s go!
Sarah, with her ethereal crystal-clear voice, and Sky sing their “Never Been in Love Before,” the virile Sky (AKA Obediah) who surprisingly knows a thing or two about the Bible.
In Havana, one can only guess how Sarah lets loose after a few rum drinks.
One of the gamblers, Nicely-Nicely (Kyle Taylor Parker) belts out one of the night’s most popular hits, “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” accompanied by several other popular tunes in the show like “A Bushel and a Peck,” “Take Back Your Mink,” “Luck Be a Lady’ and “Sue Me.”
Walt Spangler sets the stage in a thrift shop which the mission uses for preaching and the gamblers, for a night club and betting parlor down below.
Outside the doors are New York’s streets and the musicians across the walk, under the direction of James Lowe, effectively veiled to reduce any distraction.
But distracted I was by the oh la la! costumes, enough to widen my eyeballs. Honestly, for a few minutes, I became so enamored by the suits and dresses, the shoes (the shoes!), the hats (the hats!), I was torn from the dialogue and drifted off into Constance Hoffman’s costuming, the colors and designs for the huge cast, outstanding.
Plus, to top it all, it’s Christmas in New York City!
Francesca Zambello, the Washington National Opera’s artistic director, directs these guys and dolls in a great escape at Shakespeare.
The show won the Tony Award for Best Musical when it debuted on Broadway in 1950 and ran 1200 performances before it was picked up, revived and produced again and again in many revivals in the U.S. and London, winning several more Tonys.
Tickets start at $43 (with fees included) but are $39 for those under age 35 with code 26U35 and on Friday night, Dec. 12, they’ll be treated by Sebastian D. Pineapple to a “Young Prose Night” afterparty with free drink.
Through Jan. 8, 2026. About 2.5 hours with one 15-minute intermission. Shakespeare Theatre Company, Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW Washington, DC 20004, ph. 202.547.1122.
The theatre is collecting lightly used or new coats, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, and warm clothes for adults and children.
