University of Virginia Library

STAGE

Trying Not To Be Different

By Steve Wells
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

It was inevitable, I suppose, that
the Albemarle Playhouse would
sooner or later get around to doing
"Guys and Dolls." After all, they
wouldn't want to be different from
every other dinner theatre in the
country, all of which I am
convinced would go out of business
were it not for Neil Simon's "The
Odd Couple" and Frank Loesser's
musical look at Damon Runyon's
Broadway.

These vehicles have become such
standard dinner theatre fare
because they represent light
entertainment at its best. And since
the primary objective of every
dinner theatre is to send its patrons
(and reviewers) home smiling, then
why not go with the best? That
way the patrons will come back and
the critics will rave and the
attendance will soar and the
management will turn a nice profit
and everybody will be happy.

Need Something Original

Well, that's the reasoning, and
given a company with the talent
Albemarle has, it's pretty
foolproof. Of course it would be
refreshing to see what that could
do with something slightly out of
the ordinary or maybe an original,
but perhaps that's asking a bit too
much. There are financial and
commercial matters to be taken
into account, so as long as they
continue providing good
productions of the "standards," we
should be more appreciative than
critical.

And their current production of
"Guys and Dolls" makes for a
thoroughly enjoyable evening
(enjoyable, that is, after the meal is
over — the food isn't as good as it
once was). The show has been
competently staged by Peter Webb,
and is performed with a higher
consistency of excellence than we
have seen at Albemarle in recent
months.

I think most everybody is
familiar with "Guys and Dolls": its
light-hearted book by Jo Swerling
and Abe Burrows and its tuneful
score by Frank Loesser featuring
such songs as "Fugue for
Tinhorns," "The Oldest
Established," "Luck Be A Lady,"
and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the
Boat."

Versatility

The characters have become
like old friends, old friends who
never change; Nathan Detroit is still
trying to find a place to hold his
crap game, Adelaide still has her
psychosomatic cold, Sergeant Sarah
is still trying to make sinners
reform, and Sky Masterson is still
trying to make Sergeant Sarah.

Patrick Stoner plays Nathan,
and again he demonstrates his
versatility in being to play any type
of character and play it well. I wish
some of his versatility would rub
off on his wife, Joyce, who has
been restricted to "dumb broad"
roles recently, but who is splendid
nonetheless as Adelaide.

Typical Dinner Theater

Steve Tharp makes a satisfactory
Sky and Ann Ault handles the role
of Sarah with no trouble. There are
some fine supporting turns by
Russell Gustafson, Mark Scott
Hattan, and Lee Medinets as
gamblers in search of some action,
and an especially warm portrayal of
Salvation Army crusader Arvide
Abernathy by Dick Carpentier.

The difficulty I find in reviewing
productions at Albemarle is that
there simply isn't much to say
about them. The vehicles don't lend
themselves to lengthy critical
evaluations, nor do the productions
offer up any unusual ideas for
discussion. All a critic can do with
"Guys and Dolls" is recommend it
as good, typical dinner theatre
entertainment and then rest his
case.

— Ed.)