Jesse Wilkerson and Haakan Packwood in Guys & Dolls
This past Thursday, after a full week of unseasonably hot, muggy weather, we were finally treated to an evening that was cool and breezy. Meteorologists would likely attribute this to the day's numerous rainstorms. I'm prone to credit the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Guys & Dolls for the atmospheric shift, because as season-opening presentations go, this one was as cool and breezy as they come.
Among musical comedies from Broadway's fabled Golden Age, composer/lyricist Frank Loesser's celebration of chronic gamblers, nightclub tootsies, and other Damon Runyon archetypes might be the most purely pleasurable, mostly because its only purpose is to provide a great time. Sure, characters eventually become “better people.” But the arrogant, shady, silly people they were beforehand were already adorable, and with the majority of Loesser's songs joyously comedic, even his yearning romantic ballads exude a fizzy exuberance. Not only are there no dark elements in this show; there are no humdrum scenes or unwelcome tunes, either. (You could, admittedly, argue for the excision of “More I Cannot Wish You,” but it's short, and too innocuous to cause harm.) I lo-o-o-ve Guys & Dolls, and nearly across the board, it appears that director Courtney Ryan Crouse's ensemble does, too. If they don't, they're better actors than I thought.
Upon returning to Clinton for Thursday's opening night, I was already ashamed of having missed the Showboat's 2025 season, its first with the supremely gifted multi-hyphenate Crouse as artistic director. After witnessing the talents of Jesse Wilkerson, a returning company member from last summer, I'm now mortified to have missed last season. Playing the vain smoothie Sky Masterson, Wilkerson demonstrates the kind of confidence that drops your jaw; you can't believe he's achieving such sublime effects so simply. Every note he sings seems to ideally fit the performer's beautiful bari-tenor, and he's as serenely forceful on Sky's dynamic “Luck Be a Lady” as he is wooing pious Sarah Brown on “I've Never Been in Love Before.” Yet Wilkerson is also the driest of sly comics (and vice versa), scoring with bits – especially his insistence that Sarah's Save-a-Soul Mission save Sky's – that sometimes require two seconds of dawning recognition before his subtle cleverness makes you laugh out loud.
No such time lapses are necessary for Guys & Dolls' many additional comedians. For some of us, anxious street charlatan Nathan Detroit is so synonymous with Nathan Lane (from the 1992 Broadway revival) that it was almost shocking to see the role played, here, by a slender, handsome guy who might've been the production's tallest cast member. In addition to being a terrific singer, though, Haakan Packwood emerges as a relentless, high-comedy powerhouse – like Lane, but elongated. Whether speedily shuffling across the stage on his knees or wailing/whining Nathan's grievances to the heavens, Packwood is unfailingly hysterical and endearing, and he and Wilkerson form a tremendous Yin/Yang team … if Yin were Cary Grant and Yang were Jim Carrey. (Even the gents' suits, with all of the show's snazzy costumes designed by Montana Carlson, reflect the male leads' dichotomous personalities: Sky in sleek stripes and Nathan in a cascade of plaid.)
Although Loesser's score is one of American theatre's all-time grandest, it can be easy to forget just how musically glorious its songs are – and how tricky so many of them are to perform – due to how witty and hilarious they are. As backed by a wonderful off-stage orchestra conducted by pianist Connor Crotzer Scartascini, and under the superior music direction of Rachel Young, Crouse's harmonically astute cast reminds you that songs pleasing to the ear and the funny bone aren't mutually exclusive. Portraying the prim and proper Sarah Brown, for instance, Madeline Burroughs is divinely earnest and proves her vocal chops time and again, particularly when she raises the personal stakes on her “I'll Know” reprise. But Burroughs is also a gorgeous vocalist and an utter hoot when Sarah, inhibitions loosened through too many dulces de leche, shares her newfound romantic ardor on “If I Were a Bell.”
Crouse's Guys & Dolls is filled with that sort of ticklish blend: Ryan Scoble's roof-shaking fervor in “Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat”; the crapshooters going to high-energy, high-comic town on “The Oldest Established.” Peyton Houston, meanwhile, is a charming Miss Alelaide, in stellar voice and clearly game to be funny. I'd suggest, however, that she can still go further with her showgirl's not-so-empty-headed daffiness, as opening night seemed to find her a tad hesitant about going for broke on both her inflections and emotionalism – fearlessness that “Adelaide's Lament” kind of demands. Yet she can surely get there, if she hasn't already. Respectively paired with Packwood and Burroughs, “Sue Me” and “Marry the Man Today” found Houston easily matching her co-stars' enthusiastic bravado.
That's a “room for improvement” note, though. Did I have any significant, potentially unfixable complaints? Only one, and it was my own fault for requesting the seating I did. But it turns out that scenic designer Alina Cannon's multi-purpose set is a two-story one, and if you're sitting on the Showboat's upper level and anyone is standing on the set's upper level, they're only visible from the knees down. (The Save-a-Soul musicians' debut was like the barely-raised-curtain opener of 42nd Street.) Thankfully, except for during one frantic phone call involving Nathan, the locale wasn't employed often or for too long a time, and the design was at least exceptional for one unexpected sewer getaway. It's still unfortunate that anyone with second-floor tickets needs to be deprived of anyone's reactions, particularly Packwood's. There are more than 50 available seats up there!
And over the course of Guys & Dolls' run, every last one of the Showboat's available seats deserves to be filled. This season opener is fantastic, a non-stop grin with perks including: bubbly choreography by Grace Avery; loopily off-kilter readings from Tripp DeMille, Paige Madej, and Will Braxton Coffey; roles for Quad Cities theatre treasure Jenny Winn and her skilled daughter Emily; riotous, possibly improvised lines such as “If this is Hell's Kitchen, I wanna see the bedroom!”; and sensationally elegant, unobtrusive body-mic mixing by sound designer Seth Fogelsonger – among the finest work of this kind I've yet heard in the area. Kudos, especially, to Courtney Crouse … and I have to applaud him now, because despite appearing in two on-stage roles on Thursday, the man wasn't granted a curtain call. If I were him, I'd take the matter up with the director. Or the artistic director. Crouse must be on good terms with at least one of those guys.
Guys & Dolls runs at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre (303 Riverview Drive, Clinton IA) through June 21, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)242-6760 and visiting ClintonShowboat.com.
