THEATER REVIEW : ‘Guys and Dolls’ on Tour: It’s a Crapshoot

You’d think that a pedigreed reinvention of “Guys and Dolls” such as the one that opened at the Hollywood Pantages on Wednesday couldn’t possibly miss--and you’d be partially right.

Director Jerry Zaks’ much-awarded creation splashed its Day-Glo colors all over Broadway in April, 1992, with reverberations beyond. The national company now at the Pantages is an authentic clone: a carefully reconstructed version of the original with only a few functional accommodations to the exigencies of touring. It lacks just one essential. But . . . let’s go with the good news first.

There is no quarrel with the richly colored, exaggerated costumes of William Ivey Long that give the show a welcome comic-strip flair--or the hot spectrum of set designer Tony Walton’s drops and Paul Gallo’s lighting.

The spirit of the Damon Runyon characters and stories on which this 1950 Frank Loesser musical is based lives on. The book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling betrays some forgivable creakiness, but this musical isn’t about believability; it’s about nostalgic imagination and remembered tunes.

To quote one of the show’s producers, what plot boasts “four key parts, including two romances and laughs”? To say nothing of that “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.” And who sanely could object to such great Loesser tunes as Sky Masterson’s “Luck Be a Lady,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” “My Time of Day,” Miss Adelaide’s sneezy “Adelaide’s Lament,” wherein all evil leads to postnasal drip, and the smashing mock striptease of “Take Back Your Mink”?

Crowd- and ear-pleasers all, including Detroit and Adelaide’s playful “Sue Me,” and the happy ending. This lady gets her guy, even if it does take 14 years.

Zaks’ pacing throbs. Christopher Chadman’s choreography, if not consistently notable, sizzles in “The Crapshooters’ Dance,” “Take Back Your Mink” and the show’s closing numbers. True to the zealous and inspired orchestrations of George Bassman, Ted Royal and Michael Starobin, the band is lively under the baton of musical director Randy Booth. This production is not a 1990s rip-off of the 1950 original but a homage to it. So what, you ask, is the problem?

Soul. This touring version has none. And isn’t that precisely what defines a clone? The reasons seem to lie in the casting. Not having seen the Broadway company, it is not a matter of comparing those performances to these so much as wishing that the principals here--David Garrison as Detroit, Richard Muenz as Masterson, Lorna Luft as Adelaide and Patricia Ben Peterson as that demure Salvation Army beacon Sarah Brown--were generating genuine electricity.

The wiry Garrison’s Detroit physically harks back more to the 1950 original played by Sam Levene, than to Nathan Lane, who played the role on Broadway last year. But unlike Levene, Garrison doesn’t come across down, dirty or gritty. Knowing this actor’s talent, one finds his amiable New York gangster surprisingly bloodless and almost genteel.

Luft’s alluringly sexy and squealy Adelaide delivers the goods in style when she removes the mink. But the grinding and bumping and nasal naivete feel slightly predigested. Neither she nor Garrison manages the kind of exhilarating moments that elevate a performance to the rank of star quality.

Muenz and Ben Peterson are not even contenders. He’s a handsome hunk but a puppy-dog Masterson, with a decent voice, little danger and no teeth. She plays Sarah pretty much by the book, which means without much persuasiveness or passion and, at times, mercilessly pushing the notes.

And there’s the rub: beautiful package, splashy wrapping, unimpeachable music, fast pace and four principals who can’t quite get the bonfire going.

Cheers to MacIntyre Dixon as Arvide Abernathy for his rendition of “More I Cannot Wish You” and to Kevin Ligon’s Nicely-Nicely, who rocks this boat with “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” and other nice Nicely tidbits.

By show’s end, some of the production’s juices finally start flowing, but it’s hardly soon enough. No, you won’t be sorry you went, but, considering all of the attention and acclaim that attended the production in New York, you may very well walk out wondering what it was you missed.

* “Guys and Dolls,” Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; S undays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m.; also Nov. 26, 2 p.m. Dark Nov. 28. Ends Dec. 12. $25-$50; (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

David Garrison: Nathan Detroit

Lorna Luft: Miss Adelaide

Richard Muenz: Sky Masterson

Patricia Ben Peterson: Sarah Brown

Kevin Ligon: Nicely-Nicely Johnson

Al DeCristo: Benny Southstreet

James Dybas: Harry the Horse

Jay Brian Winnick: Rusty Charlie

Lyle Kanouse: Big Jule

Philip LeStrange: Lt. Branigan

Joy Franz: Gen. Matilda B. Cartwright

MacIntyre Dixon: Arvide Abernathy

A presentation of ATP/Dodger, Roger Berlind, Kardana Productions, Tom Mallow and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Executive producer George MacPherson. Associate producers Playhouse Square Center, David B. Brode, TV Asahi. Music and lyrics Frank Loesser. Book Jo Swerling, Abe Burrows. Director Jerry Zaks. Choreographer Christopher Chadman. Sets Tony Walton. Lights Paul Gallo. Costumes William Ivey Long. Hair David H. Lawrence. Sound Tony Meola. Musical supervision Edward Strauss. Musical director Randy Booth. Orchestrations George Bassman, Ted Royal, Michael Starobin. Dance music arrangements Ted Hummel. Musical coordinator Seymour Red Press. Production stage manager Allen McMullen.