New York City. It’s where saints and sinners, and guys and
dolls, collide. And fall in love. As the odds are they are going to do in this
classic musical by Frank Loesser that features one of the great scores of all
time including A Fugue for Tin Horns, I’ve Never Been in Love Before,
Luck Be a Lady Tonight, and the title song.
Encore Youth Theatre, under the direction of Jennifer
McCormick, is putting Guys and Dolls on at the Avo Playhouse in
Vista. Her cast includes the confident Theo Nicholson as gambler Sky
Masterson who gets suckered into a bet that he can’t take holy roller Sarah
Brown (Kelly Derouin), the head of a Christian mission, to dinner in
Havana. They share their best scene in Havana when Sarah gets her bell rung
with some Bacardi-flavored milk, with her If I Were a Bell number and
Sky’s reaction to it humorously portrayed.
The other guy-and-doll couple includes Jacob Jones as
a high-strung, nervous Nathan Detroit and Caitlyn Schock as an Adelaide
who gets amusingly angry and does a nice job with the voice – and has a sneeze
that could shatter glass. She also leads a group of talented Hot Box Girls at
the nightclub where they almost make their overly zealous boyfriends Take
Back Your Mink.
Terrific performances by Sergio Luna as Nicely Nicely
and Eddie Velez as Rusty Charlie, Nathan Detroit’s two top sidekicks in
his floating crap game business, top off the show. They make a great team
throughout, highlighted by their Guys and Dolls number. And Sergio, with
his high-pitched voice and humor, leads the cast in their enthusiastic Sit
Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.
That cast includes notable performances by Tamlin
Thompson as Lt. Brannigan breathing down the neck of Nathan and Sydney
Darling as Sarah’s mission friend Arvide Abernathy who says much with
subtle expressions including her glow when she feels the religious spirit of
her mission work. The guys do a fine job in the big Luck Be a Lady
number choreographed by Allisan Whitman. The fight choreography is also
good in the Havana nightclub scene. Director Jennifer McCormick adds a clever
touch when dolls Sarah and Adelaide combine for Marry the Man Today,
with Sky and Nathan on the sidelines acting out the perfect husbands that Sarah
and Adelaide want to change their gambling guys into.
Performs September 15-24, 2006.
Rob Hopper
National Youth Theatre
~ Cast ~
Sky Masterson: Theo Nicholson
Nathan Detroit: Jacob Jones
Sarah Brown: Kelly Derouin
Miss Adelaide: Caitlyn Schock
Nicely Nicely: Sergio Luna
Benny Southstreet: Eddie Velez
Rusty Charlie: Ryan Kwock
Harry the Horse: Ryan Hunt
Lt. Brannigan: Tamlin Thompson
Big Jule: Austin Bulis
Arvide Abernathy: Sydney Darling
General Cartwright: Coryne Carnohan
Angie the Ox/Waiter: Mikey Sterling
Joey Biltmore/Society Max: Matthew Vaught
Scranton Slim/Master of Ceremonies: Kyle Schanzenbach
Liver Lips Louis: Jackson Rodewald
Brandy Bottle Bates: Micah Millard
The Greek: Simon Stewart
Mimi: Brooke Wojdynski
Agatha: Cecia Sabelis
Hot Box Girls/Dolls:
Allie Bingham
Adabela Bonillo
Katie Johnson
Lizzy Palmer
Natalie Shapiro
Valerie Stewart
Kristin Strange
Brooke Wojdynski
Missionaries/Dolls:
Samantha Cochran
Kelsey Cole
Crystal Cummings
Bridget Estelle
Katie Jones
Stephanie Kellogg
Amber Lentulo
Tabitha Neal
Kelly Putignani
Cecia Sabelis
Hannah Sazon
Allie Schmelter
Laura Sterling
Rebecca Sterling
Dolls:
Haley Blair
Jalie Fransway
Kathryn Webb
Girl Gamblers:
Allie Bingham
Kelsey Cole
Tabitha Neal
Laura Sterling
Kristin Strange
Brooke Wojdynski
Havana Dancers:
Ryan Kwock
Lizzy Palmer
Valerie Stewart
Tamlin Thompson
Matthew Vaught
Brooke Wojdynski
Director: Jennifer McCormick
Choreography: Allisan Whitman
Orchestra Conductor: Jeff Lehman
Lighting Designer: Nate Cargill
Stage Manager: Annelise Threlkeld
Sound Design: Stephen Dennis
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