TribLIVE.com: As far as Ted Pappas is concerned, “Guys and Dolls” isn't just a great American musical.
It's the great American musical.
Pappas, Pittsburgh Public Theater's producing artistic director, has been in love with “Guys and Dolls” since he discovered it during his high-school years in Gary, Ind.
2 comments:
If you ask me, Guys & Dolls IS the great American musical! It is the first show I stage managed and I have never stopped loving it. The characters, as alluded to in the article title, are in fact incredibly rich and are surprisingly rounded given our usual expectation of musical theatre characters. I love the way the director puts it, that he is framing it as "a great american play that happens to have a great score." So many times directors take Guys & Dolls (or any musical) and direct it song to song, rather than really focusing on the core of the story and acknowledge the songs as a strong aid to the telling of it. I loved looking at the photos attached to the article, everything is so beautiful! There's something oddly flawless about both the costumes and the set that is very appealing and I think contributes to the whole, "Life may look perfect but we all have our vices" theme of the play. If only I had the time to see it.
The photos of this production are great. The scenery and costumes look well done and the lighting very dark and mysterious.
For me, Guys and Dolls is a show that tells a hilarious story with great characters. They are so full of life, and each have such a fun back story. That and the 1950's combine to be a costume designers dream. However, as an audience member I find Guys and Dolls to be a tired rendition of a love story that has a slow pace, and a few exciting numbers.
The music alone is great, I'd sure enjoy a cabaret version of some of these songs, as they are classics, however, overall my response is "blecchh."
I would love to be able to see the production instead of judging the book by its cover. Because it has been produced so many times I am eager to see if anything new was brought to the table. Any of the story changed? But it might be hard to sell tickets to a younger crowd because as a whole it's a dated piece, that I feel does not transcend.
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