Just two weeks after giving an exceptional performance of a symphonic warhorse by Mahler, the Orlando Philharmonic exhibited its flexibility by shifting gears nearly 180 degrees to present one of Broadway’s classic musical comedies twice on Saturday at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre.
Davis Gaines and Andrea Canny (Sentinel archive photos)
In many ways the job was an easy one for the musicians, since Frank Loesser’s “Guys and Dolls” is a nearly foolproof show, with some of the best tunes ever composed for the Broadway stage. Add a cast of amusing characters — created by newspaperman Damon Runyon out of the gamblers, dancehall girls, petty crooks, and other “street” types that he knew in mid-20th-century New York City — to a simple tale that combines two pairs of lovers with a dice game in search of a home, and you’ve got two very entertaining hours of musical comedy.
In fact, the Orlando Philharmonic took a back seat to the many Runyon-esque characters, who held the stage for most of the first performance on Saturday afternoon.
Headlining the cast was Davis Gaines, who played gambler Sky Masterson with such ease that one might not immediately realize how good he was in the role. Opposite him, Orlando native Michelle Knight was a capable Sarah Brown, the prim mission girl Sky first deceives but then falls in love with, although her voice was perhaps more operatic than the Broadway sound that role requires.
If anything, the second couple was even more entertaining. Andrea Canny was perfect as Miss Adelaide, the dancer whose sinuses mirror the status of her fourteen-year engagement to the gambler Nathan Detroit. Her high-pitched “Betty Boop” voice gave life to a character who was not quite a ditz but always lovable, and her performances of “Adelaide’s Lament” and “Marry the Man Today” were both great fun. Philip Nolen’s Nathan Detroit was similarly outsized, yet still believable.
Supporting these leads were a number of excellent players. Andrew Meidenbauer as Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Michael Edwards as Benny Southstreet provided good comic relief and served occasionally as quasi-narrators of the plot. Meidenbauer’s turn in “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” was only one of several rousing numbers in the show.
The male portion of the company also gave enthusiastic and energetic performances of “The Oldest Established,” the first-act tribute to Nathan’s mobile game of craps, and the balletic “Luck Be a Lady” in the second act. The “Dolls” of the Hot Box Club found just the right point between earnestness and cheesiness to portray the sort of second-rate nightclub that these characters would have inhabited. All these dance numbers would have benefited from a wider range of movement.
The core of the Orlando Philharmonic, joined by a handful of extra musicians, transformed themselves into a capable pit band, hitting their stride just in time for “The Oldest Established” and all that followed.
There were also several fine ballads and other tunes in a wide variety of styles, which suggests that Frank Loesser, whose centennial is celebrated this year, was the biggest star of the day.
Scott Warfield is an associate professor of music history at the University of Central Florida.
