Review: MAD Theatre of Tampa Presents Frank Loesser's GUYS AND DOLLS at the Shimberg Playhouse

Does GUYS AND DOLLS belong in the conversation as the greatest musical written in the  20th Century?  The answer may certainly be a big fat “YES,” but the competition is fierce; it must go head to head with the likes of West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd and any of the early Rodgers and Hammerstein classics. But few musicals—even some of those standard bearers mentioned above—can boast as many memorable tunes, clever lines of dialogue, beguiling plotlines, iconic characters and an overabundance of charm.  GUYS AND DOLLS rivals She Loves Me as perhaps the closest thing to being crowned  “the perfect musical.”

With music and lyrics by the great Frank Loesser and the book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, GUYS AND DOLLS is based on the New York underworld stories and characters of Damon Runyon: “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown,” “Blood Pressure” and “Pick the Winner.”  In it, the suave high-rolling gambler, Sky Masterson, makes a bet with frantic crap-game organizer Nathan Deteroit that he (Sky) can persuade any woman that Nathan chooses—in this case, prudish and religious Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission—to venture to Havana, Cuba, with him.  Add to that Nathan’s woes with his longtime fiancée, Adelaide, and you have the makings for much havoc, hilarity and, best of all, heart. As far as musicals go, GUYS AND DOLLS has it all.

The current production of this musical theatre icon is being presented by MAD Theatre of Tampa at the Shimberg Playhouse in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.  It runs thru February 1, 2026.    

Although the script and the songs remain the same, cast-wise and stage-wise this is a much smaller-scaled, pared-down version of GUYS AND DOLLS.  If you are used to seeing a half dozen members of the Save-A-Soul mission, then be prepared for a mere three here (four if you count the later appearance of General Cartwright).  I always look forward to the show’s opening moments, in Runyonland--a supposed-to-be-vibrant look at the bustling New York City street life that builds until we hear the trumpeting First Call of a horse race that introduces the show’s first number, “Fugue for Tinhorns.”  Here, it fell kind of flat, and you never got a sense that you were in a big city, let alone New York City (it felt more like New Tampa here). This is where we yearn for a much larger scale to tell this particular story of the busy NYC streets that burst to life in Damon Runyon’s world; the Shimberg works for so many shows, but big musicals always seem to be its Achilles Heel.   

The MAD version of GUYS AND DOLLS is a no frills affair where I wondered how they were ultimately going to tell this big brash musical on such a small, intimate stage.  It’s the next morning, and I’m still wondering.

As it stands, the big numbers, with the exception of the excellent “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” left much to be desired.  But the small moments, those intimate scenes between two characters—Sky and Sarah, Nathan and Adelaide—shine best of all in these surroundings.  These smaller scenes work so well that you want to re-title the show Guy and Doll.

It helps that the leads are all splendid and exude so much charm.  Standing out as the finest of a fine bunch is Jessica Berger Vitalo as the sniffling Miss Adelaide.  The part is a slam dunk whoever plays it, but Ms. Berger Vitalo takes it to the next level. She doesn’t try to do another Vivian Blaine impression; she makes the part her own.  The performance is a quirky delight.  One of the great comedic songs in history, “Adelaide’s Lament,” becomes a rousing tour de force in  Ms. Vitalo Berger’s grip.  Her singing, her acting, all come together to underscore why this is considered one of the great character musicals. 

There’s a moment when Adelaide tells her beau, Nathan, about faking being married and having children for her mother.  “It’s a boy,” she says at one point, turning her announcement into a fake gender-reveal moment complete with blue confetti.  She doesn’t overdo the Adelaide accent, but it’s there.  And her wee moments—like mispronouncing “psychology”—add up to quite a lot.  She zaps the stage full of life and, if you never saw GUYS AND DOLLS before and wondered what all the hubbub was about, her performance will tell you why.  She’s astonishingly good.

But wait, there’s more.  Equally as strong, if not as showy, is Christina Jimenez’s Sarah Moore, the Save-A-Soul leader whose life changes when she falls in love with gambler Sky Masterson.  Ms. Jimenez showcases a beautiful voice, angelic and yearning and powerful.  Sarah is a tough part, wound up and tense, but it’s the moment she becomes free with Sky, in Havana, that Ms. Jimenez really shows her stuff.  Her “If I Were a Bell” is beyond delightful, where she lets down her hair and, prodded by some Bacardi (a plot-point that doesn’t age well), she becomes free and giddy.  And gleefully (and believably) she falls in love.

In so many productions of GUYS AND DOLLS, Sarah is usually played by a strong singer whose acting chops don’t match the voice and, thus, she gets overshadowed by the more dazzling Runyon characters.  Not here. Ms. Jimenez stands out in this production and gives Sarah her rightful due in the spotlight.  Glorious.

The leading males are also quite strong.  Will Sobel glows with likability and is a terrific presence onstage as Sky Masterson; he also displays a marvelous, pitch-perfect singing voice.  He seems a bit too baby-faced to play a notorious hard-core gambler like Sky, but the moment he duets with Ms. Jimenez’s Sarah on  “I’ll Know” and “I’ve Never Been In Love Before,” the audience is 100% on his side.  Wonderful work.

As for “Luck Be a Lady,” the show’s most famous song, Mr. Sobel sings it well, but  the production number doesn’t have the proper verve and drive that we are accustomed to; this has less to do with Mr. Sobel’s rendition of the song than it does with the lackluster staging of it (there’s little the cast can do in the tight space). 

Marcus Blake is spot-on as Nathan Detroit, marvelously mugging and in total turmoil throughout.  He works quite well with Ms. Vitalo-Berger’s Adelaide, and the audience can’t wait for their scenes together.  “Sue Me,” his Act 2 duet with Adelaide, is beautifully done and the most underrated song of the show. 

Luis Graham steals the show as Nicely-Nicely, the nice-guy gambler who gets some of the musical’s best songs, including “Fugue for Tinhorns” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”  As mentioned earlier, of all the large-scale songs in this production, the only one that really works is the gospelized “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” and much of its success is due to Mr. Graham’s raucous rendition of it.

Stephon Mikell Jr. as Benny Southstreet and Marco Rodriguez as Rusty Charlie offer great support to Mr. Graham’s Nicely-Nicely.  Dylan Lauricello fits right in as Harry the Horse, spitting out his gangsterish dialogue machine-gun fast, so perfect for the time period depicted here. 

Carlos Santiz is a strong presence onstage as Lt. Brannigan, the police officer, but his performance is undermined by his lack of a proper uniform to set him apart from the gamblers. It gets really confusing and causes quite a bit of suspension of disbelief on the audience’s part when we see Mr. Santiz dancing as a crapshooter right after we see him as a menacing police officer, and if you didn’t know the show before, you would be incredibly confused by it here. 

Robert Pelaia is a welcome dose of sanity as Arvide Abernathy, and he sings the thankless “More I Cannot Wish You” quite well.  Lauren Dykes makes the most of her role of General Cartwright, and Christy Adams has her moments as Angie the Ox. Irina Veltman rounds out the ensemble as Agatha. 

The Hot Box girls do well in their songs “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Take Back Your Mink,” and each one has her moment to shine: Lauren Dykes, Alexandra Pugliese, Emma Sobel and Christy Adams.  Unfortunately, their “A Bushel and a Peck” was undermined by uninspiring costume choices, and watching them, we never really felt like we were in a nightclub. 

In an interesting MAD twist, each night a special guest star will be playing the part of Big Jule.  During the performance I experienced, the fabulous Christian McLaurine portrayed the imposing gambler from Chicago. And even though the part was a relative walk-on, Mr. McLaurine became another standout.   (Other local luminaries playing this part in future performances include Jim Sorensen, Robert Boyd, Drew Eberhard, director Doug Buffaloe, and Karla Hartley; it will prove quite interesting to see how each of these talents tackle the role.)

The small but mighty orchestra, performing upstage the whole show, is terrifically tight under the music direction of Xander McColley.  They include conductor Mr. McColley on keyboards; Latoya McCormick on Keyboard 2; Alex Pasut on bass guitar; Julia Ford on reeds; Noah Rampmaier on trumpet; Alex Cabral on trombone; and Woody Bond on drums.  There’s nothing better than a live orchestra, and Mr. McColley’s gang proves it with this production. 

Tech elements work fine, and the band only sometimes overwhelms the singers and their heavenly harmonies (Niomi Collard’s sound design gets the job done).  Mike Buckner’s set design is minimal and serviceable for the limited Shimberg space (don’t expect anything grandiose).  Deb Lastinger’s costumes work with the colorful gamblers, but lack with the aforementioned Hot Box Girls attire and the police officer’s uniform (or lack thereof).   

Director Doug Buffaloe has the Herculean task of taking this beloved, iconic, BIG musical and fitting it into the tiny quarters of the Shimberg Playhouse.  He directs the performances of his cast quite well, but the staging could have been even more inventive.  For example, there are way too many moments when the cast just stands in a straight line.  And that’s a basic rule of directing: Unless you’re staging A Chorus Line, please avoid boring straight lines.  Mr. Buffaloe’s choreography works sometimes, but oftentimes it seems quite loose and messy.  But that’s because so many bodies are moving in such a small space. He does best with the smaller, more intimate scenes, where we really feel the heartfelt connection between Sky and Sarah as well as Nathan and Adelaide. 

I love that MAD continues to be daring and tries something different by cramming this large-scale musical in such a small space, like trying to stuff a swordfish in a can of sardines.  The moments of GUYS AND DOLLS that shine really shine, but other moments don’t reach their necessary heights and the production itself sometimes feels incomplete. 

That said, it is GUYS AND DOLLS, one of the greatest musicals ever written, and with the fantastic leads paving the way, it’s a very entertaining ride.  The songs we love and remember—“Fugue for Tinhorns,” “Adelaide’s Lament,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” and “Marry the Man Today”—will keep you humming from today until next month.  And with the outside world as crazy as it is, and the need for us to escape more important than ever, there is no better escapist fare than diving into Runyonland with GUYS AND DOLLS. 

Mad Theatre’s production of GUY AND DOLLS plays thru February 1, 2026, at the Shimberg Playhouse in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Photo courtesy of Nathan Dougherty.