`GUYS AND DOLLS': A SURE BET (PLAY REVIEW)

Many of the characters in the short stories of Damon Runyon are two-bit gamblers living just this side of the law and looking for a sure thing, a safe bet.

They would have found that sure thing, that safe bet, with Cape Central High School's production of "Guys and Dolls," a musical inspired by the characters and stories of Runyon. The production, which opens for three days beginning tonight, is as slick and as savvy as the characters who inhabit it.

The story, set in the heart of New York's Times Square and billed as "a musical fable of Broadway," revolves around the unlikely romance between a pure-at-heart urban missionary, Sarah Brown, and a smooth-talking gambler, Sky Masterson.

Brown, whose character is patterned after a Salvation Army missionary, is played with the right degree of innocence by Beth Bishop. Masterson is portrayed by Nathan Gibbar, a relative newcomer to the Central stage.

The curtain opens on a set meant to reflect the glitz of 42nd Street and a rush of characters across the stage that becomes almost a ballet of pickpockets, gamblers and confidence men, dancing around the law. It is, as Sarah Brown puts it, "The devil's own city on the devil's own street . . . a jungle of sin."

The theme of repentance and the ability of love to change a person runs throughout the play. As Masterson asks to Brown, "Why is it when you dolls get a guy you like, you take him in for alteration?"

Or, as Brown and her new friend Miss Adelaide sing toward the shows end, "Marry a man today, treat him gently; marry a man today and train him subsequently."

If there is a problem for both Bishop and Gibbar in the lead roles, it is not so much in their performances as it is in the roles themselves. Their story -- or rather, the story of Sarah Brown and Sky Masterson -- is the classic Broadway musical love story: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.

In most Broadway musicals, the romantic leads are given strong love songs both to capture the essence of their burgeoning love and to propel that love to greater heights and depths.

Not so here.

The most memorable tunes in the show have nothing to do with love. The possible exception is the song, "A Bushel and a Peck." But that song is sung as a cabaret number by a supporting character, not by one of the leads.

Perhaps because of the relative weakness of the story line for the romantic leads, Gibbar seems less than comfortable at times in the rather formulaic love story.

He acquits himself nicely, however, in scenes where he is allowed to mingle with the other street people. His rendering of "Luck Be A Lady Tonight," backed up with a chorus of male gamblers, is a show stopper.

Bishop is given the formidable task of breathing life into Sarah Brown, a straight-laced character who, by her very nature, is the least lively. Damon Runyon's world is filled with gamblers, chorus girls and those who live on the fringes. Sarah Brown, on the other hand, is a street missionary who preaches against the sin and evil of that world.

When Brown travels with Sky Masterson to Cuba and imbibes one too many Bacardi-spiked tropical drinks, she loosens up and drops her rigid facade. Bishop, too, seems to loosen up at that point in the show and begins to have some fun with the show.

Unfortunately, the scene itself, replete with Cuban music and dance, goes on a bit too long. The scene was undoubtedly written as it is for its original Broadway audience during a time when Latin music and dance were highly fashionable. Still, the dancers here, especially Cheryl Hilterbrand and Matt Brandt, do their best with some difficult steps.

But the show really belongs to the two main supporting players -- Nick Ryan as Nathan Detroit and Claire Syler as Detroit's long-time fiance, Miss Adelaide. The roles could easily lend themselves to caricature rather than character, especially in the hands of relatively inexperienced performers. Both Ryan and Syler avoid that pitfall, exhibiting a confidence and presence on stage that is rare in high school performers.

Early in the show, when the gamblers' chorus sings about Nathan Detroit's permanent floating crap game in the song "The Oldest Established," Ryan flashes a smile that makes believable the idea that here is a man who has lived more off his street smarts than good, honest work. He is a confidence man who sucks in the audience just as easily as his usual marks.

Equally remarkable is Syler, who belts out her cabaret numbers -- "A Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink," a delightful burlesque that opens the second act -- like the seasoned night club performer she portrays. Even the song "Adelaide's Lament," a relatively insignificant little ditty about the causes of her head cold, is delightful when sung by Syler.

The gamblers who surround Masterson and Detroit are generally strong. Brian McClure as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Mike Oslund as Benny Southstreet and David Nall as Rusty Charlie open the show with the pleasing "Fugue for Tinhorns." McClure later showcases a strong tenor voice in the gospel-flavored "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat."

Shane Steck as Harry the Horse and, especially, Aaron St. Clair as Big Jule bring nice comedic touches to their roles as tough guy gamblers.

Surrounding Miss Adelaide at the cabaret are the Hot Box Girls. The six young women who sing and dance in the roles seem to enjoy the parts as much as the women they portray.

The show runs tonight, Friday and Saturday at the Central High School Auditorium. Curtain time is 7:30.

Ticket prices are $3 for students, $6 for adults and $5 for senior citizens. Tickets may be ordered by phone at 335-8228 or purchased at the door.