“Follow the Fold” to Guys and Dolls at the Maltz Jupiter

By Britin Haller

It’s true confession time. Hearing repeatedly that Guys and Dolls is the “perfect musical,” and only having the lackluster 1955 film to go by, it’s not difficult to imagine one being skeptical. But as usual, Producing Artistic Director/Chief Executive Andrew Kato of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre does not miss a trick, and another soul has been converted into the believers’ club. Simply put, fellas, there’s a new show in town to knock your fedoras off.

Based on a short story by Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls premiered on Broadway in 1950 and quickly became the darling of the circuit, winning five Tony Awards including the coveted Best Musical. Guys and Dolls is a snippet-in-time musical telling the story of what happens when a Times Square craps game promoter named Nathan Detroit needs some quick cash to set up a game, and so he bets a high-stakes gambler named Sky Masterson that Sky can’t convince local female missionary Sarah Brown to go to Havana with him for the evening.

What Nathan doesn’t count on is that Sky is very charming, yes, but also that Sarah is a lonely powder keg waiting to explode, and she pretty quickly finds herself on a plane heading to Cuba. In between all this, Nathan has to contend with Miss Adelaide, a dance-hall performer who is desperate to marry him after fourteen years of dating.

With an embarrassment of riches including four actors who keep stealing the stage back from each other, an enhanced orchestra (those strings!) and a real overture, a technical display that has to be seen to be believed, and dance number after dance number each more toe-tapping than the next, there are not enough superlatives or adjectives to describe how dazzling (and fun!) this show is.

The Emmy Award-winning Al Blackstone was last seen at the Maltz in 2019 when he choreographed West Side Story. Blackstone returns in glory, not only to create the sizzling dance numbers along with Melissa J. Hunt, but to direct the entire production.

Hiring local talent, of which South Florida has a wealth of, is important, but Kato decided to bring in some out-of-town sure-bets, and you’ll hear no complaints from us. Usually, it’s fairly easy to pick a favorite, but not here, so these are the four who bring the house down, so to speak.

As the lovable stooge, Nathan Detroit, the NYC-based Barrett Riggins is the best thing since sliced bread. You just want to pinch his cheeks. Riggins previously worked with Al Blackstone at another venue and obviously made a great impression on him, enough to trust Riggins with this pivotal role.

Riggins is the most physical comedic actor we’ve ever laid eyes on. Think of a squirrel on a hot tin roof. Riggins acts with his entire body, resembling a pretzel at times, and is an absolute treat to watch. Somebody please tell this man we have warm weather down here, because what do we need to do to get him to stay?

Kyle Taylor Parker as the effusive and perpetually cheerful Nicely Nicely Johnson is so cute we just want to hug him. What a treat to see this Broadway actor perform for us, especially in the Sunday go-to-meeting song “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” where we were hanging onto every note to make it last. Again, as with Barrett Riggins, how do we get Kyle Taylor Parker to return to South Florida?

If we didn’t know any better, we’d think Mallory Newbrough, as the outspoken Miss Adelaide, was from the New York scene too, but thankfully South Florida audiences get to keep her within our midst. A two-time Carbonell and Silver Palm Award-Winner, Newbrough is returning to the Maltz in a role she was born to play. Never have we ever committed to a character as we did for Mallory Newbrough in her big moments during “Adelaide’s Lament” and “Adelaide’s Second Lament.” With her fiery red hair and lips, her big, bright-blue expressive eyes, her fast-paced staccato out-toed walk, and her nasally voice resembling Edith Bunker in All in the Family, Newbrough allows herself, and us, to be thoroughly possessed by Miss Adelaide.

And last, but certainly not the least, of our four favorites is Jen Cody, who is no stranger to the Maltz stage for good reason. As Big Jule, a craps player from Chicago who has quite a feared reputation and brings his own loaded dice, Cody is perfectly suited for the role. “Let’s shoot crap,” he says, leaving the “s” off the word. We promised Andrew Kato we wouldn’t say too much more about Big Jule other than whomever cast Jen Cody deserves a medal for brilliance, because if you know, you know. Cody slays in the stunning “Crapshooters Ballet,” where the guys wear red carnations and explore every inch of a working sewer. We could watch this on repeat.

Haile Ferrier and Dan De Luca star as Sarah Brown and Sky Masterson, the saint and the sinner, who meet-cute and then fall in love over too many rum drinks under the palm trees in Havana. De Luca is handsome and debonair, and the sidewalk-pounder Ferrier is appropriately uptight until she falls under his spell and can’t contain her excitement. Their rowboat scene “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” is utterly charming. Ferrier sounds like a Disney Princess while De Luca looks like Prince Charming in “I’ll Know.”

Sky and Sarah spoon

Other stand-outs for the two of them include Sarah’s solo “If I Were A Bell” where she clearly has had too much to drink and gives us a gorgeous last note, and “Luck Be A Lady” where Sky and the eight crapshooters wish for good rolls of the dice in a sewer full of hot steaming pipes.

As Sarah’s grandpa, Arvide Abernathy, Curt Denham excels. Denham is a dialect master with several under his belt, and the Irish brogue he shares with us during his love song to his granddaughter, the fabulous “More I Cannot Wish You” stirs us to our soul. We love it when he meddles, ever so subtly, in Sarah’s love life.

Fan gavorite Troy Stanley makes his return to the Maltz as the no-nonsense Lt. Brannigan, the beat cop with a mission to take the dice, and vice, out of Times Square. He’s a real party pooper.

Doing a lot with lesser-seen speaking roles (we didn’t say smaller!) are Colleen Pagano as General Matilda B. Cartwright, Keven Quillon as Harry the Horse, Michael Santomassimo as Angie the Ox and the ensemble dance captain, Jay L. Johnson as one of Sarah’s faithful, and the always charming Giorgio Volpe as the Havana server who brings Sarah her liquor. Additional cast members who appear at times in the Mission Band, as Hot Box Girls, and as Crap Shooters are Jacquez Linder-Long, Melissa J. Hunt, Torie D’Alessandro, Maria Cristina Posada Slye, and Cat Pagano.

Great duets are a staple of Guys and Dolls. Between the clever “Sue Me” with Nathan and Adelaide at odds with their relationship, beautiful harmonies by Adelaide and Sarah in “Marry the Man Today” (and change his ways tomorrow), and an adorable song and dance named after the show’s title with Nathan’s best friends, Nicely Nicely and Benny, it’s impossible to pick just one.

There are also great trios like “The Oldest Established” with Nathan, Nicely, Benny (and dancers) paying an ode to Nathan’s crap games, and “Fugue for Tinhorns” where some of the guys talk about their love for betting on the ponies, and then proceed to never mention it again. While a terrific song, no doubt, one wonders what place it holds in a story about crapshooters.

Are we the only ones obsessed with the Hot Box Club? Just like the Harmonia Gardens restaurant in Hello Dolly!, the Hot Box Club is a place we need to frequent. We picture a building, in Boca perhaps, with the restaurant on one side, and the nightclub on the other. But for now, we’ll have to suffice with Miss Adelaide and her Hot Box Girls on stage at the Maltz.

The Hot Box ladies, with two male overall-attired farmer boys, and Adelaide coming out of a big cracked egg, crush it first as vegetables in “A Bushel and a Peck,” and then use some pink gift boxes to cover Adelaide’s private parts in “Take Back Your Mink.” The feathers from the boas all over the stage is a nice touch, as are the janitors with brooms.

Musical Director Eric Alsford leads the orchestra with what feels like an extra-special excitement, and why not? Guys and Dolls must be a favorite for musicians who not only strut their stuff during the rousing instrumentals “Runyonland,” “Havana,” and the “Crapshooters Ballet,” but get to open the action with a real overture, something not heard often enough these days, in this critic’s humble opinion.

Some of the guys have colorful nicknames we wish we had more info on like Benny Southstreet, Liver Lips Louie, Rusty Charlie, Harry the Horse (so named when he tried to steal a horse), and Angie the Ox (did he try to steal an ox?) None of these scoundrels are people you’d want to trust with your bank deposits, but they are lovable nonetheless. The bad boys who make you laugh all the while committing victimless crimes, not hurting anyone but themselves, and their long-suffering girlfriends, that is. And who knew craps could be so exciting? Imagine a world where the NYC cops on a beat have nothing better to do than stop a dice game. The implausibility and farce of it all only adds to the appeal.

We are further immersed into this world through their pidgin language, a slang vernacular Damon Runyan made up for his fictional characters. You might want a quick brush-up on some “Runyonese” before the show. A doll is a woman, especially a good-looking one, shooters are craps players, and a marker is an IOU that must be written and signed, because even gamblers have a street code of ethics. These markers are considered a man’s word of honor because no one wants to welch, or go back on, a bet.
There’s a lot of confusion over what decade Guys and Dolls happens in. The playbill says it’s the 1950s, but pre-show publicity doesn’t say, rather just calling it “timeless.” And the clothes, fedoras, and dialogue (calling women “dolls”) definitely say Depression-era, likely the 1930s. Commercial flights were available to Cuba then, so that’s not a factor. In the thirties, horse racing and craps were prominent forms of gambling, so this fits too. Plus Damon Runyon was known for setting his characters in this period. Google doesn’t have a clear answer placing Guys and Dolls anywhere from the 20s to the 50s. It’s a mystery, for sure.

Adam Koch and Steve Royal are responsible for allowing us to immerse ourselves in the underbelly of NYC gambling through their highly technical scenic and video designs of a bustling Times Square. The plane going overhead is cute. Johanna Pan, Dan Hewson, and Kevin S. Foster II create an incredible look for each guy and doll, saints (love the color choice for the mission workers) and sinners (those sexy Hot Box girls!) through costumes, hats, and wigs.

Thanks to nuanced colorful lighting from Dalton Hamilton, and sounds of the city from Scott Stauffer, it’s easy to suspend our disbelief and imagine we are in the heart of the Big Apple. Kent James Collins, Randall Swinton, and Grace Cirillo manage the stage efficiently, as they always do, keeping the pace quick with never a lag behind.

But in the end, the heart and soul of Guys and Dolls is Miss Adelaide and her beau Nathan Detroit, because the chemistry between actors Mallory Newbrough and Barrett Riggins is off the charts. Never has a woman been more confused or more in love with a man who still can’t commit after over a decade of dating. “I never want to talk to him again,” she says in one totally exasperated moment, followed up with a perfectly-timed “Have him call me here.” Adelaide is so embarrassed by the fact she’s let this man drag her along for so long she told her mother (who lives in Rhode Island thankfully) that she’s married to Nathan with four kids and one in the oven. The running gag about Nathan’s potential mother-in-law is so good.

Adelaide’s anxiety over not having a ring on her finger manifests itself in her body as a physical cold which requires Mallory Newbrough to sneeze often during the show. Newbrough must be commended for the commitment it took to learn to do this believably. Are there acting classes in this? If not, there should be.

Andrew Kato first produced Guys and Dolls at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in 2005 on a shoestring budget and gave us a marker claiming it was worth a re-do. We are thrilled to say Kato didn’t welch that bet. Just ask the audience who cheered so much after the big numbers that the running time should be extended, because the actors were holding, holding, holding for applause. What a wonderful problem to have.

With a score to end all scores by Frank Loesser, a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows chock-full of endearing oddball characters, lighted marquees resembling Broadway, and a hysterical sight gag that never gets old, Guys and Dolls at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre should be all the rage come awards time. If you disagree, “Sue Me.”

So grab your loaded dice, put on your fedoras and your red carnations, and follow the fold to the Maltz Jupiter Theatre for the crap game to end all crap games. Just ask Big Jule. But go quickly, because this is a show you’ll want to return to again and again.

Britin Haller is a mystery author and an editor for Turner Publishing. Her recent short story “So Many Shores in Crookland” can be read in the 150th issue of Black Cat Weekly. Britin’s latest edit, a cozy mystery novel called Dumpster Dying is by Michelle Bennington and available where books are sold. Find Britin across social media.

Guys and Dolls runs through April 6th at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Shows are nightly Tues-Fri @ 7:30 p.m. and Sat @ 8 p.m. Wed, Sat and Sun matinees at 2 p.m. Limited tickets still available. Running time approx. 150 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. To purchase tickets visit their website at: www.jupitertheatre.org, call: (561) 575-2223, or stop by the box office located at 1001 Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, (one and a half blocks east of A1A), between the hours of 10 am-6 pm Mon-Fri and Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Tickets start at $74.

Nathan Detroit gets encouragement from his colleagues in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s Guys and Dolls