GUYS AND DOLLS at the Nederlander Theatre

(Seen 3/4/09)

Director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo have succeeded in destroying one of the great masterworks of the American musical theatre. It is difficult to fathom how this creative team for JERSEY BOYS, a brilliant showcase of their talent, could have struck out in so many elements of Frank Loesser's classic New York musical.

Their disastrous undertaking starts with a revised book that adds an intruding Damon Runyon as a running character/commentator. The most egregious problem is in the casting -- mainly an indifferent, vacuous, musically-deprived Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit. And so much chemistry is missing from all the leading characters.

Both the haphazard direction and mediocre choreography add to the list of things gone wrong. Befitting the gambling vernacular, all in all, a disappointing and sometimes painful demonstration of how to turn a sure thing into an also-ran.