THEATER REVIEW : Colorful ‘Guys and Dolls’ Puts On Some Slick Moves

Check the dice for shaved edges--those wonderfully corny, syntax-mangling Times Square crapshooters and their goils are back in Music Theatre of Southern California’s energetic, colorful and thoroughly polished staging of “Guys and Dolls.�

Distinguished by well-matched leads and the largest number of Actors’ Equity performers (11) ever for this company, the production at the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium handsomely serves the 1950 Frank Loesser-Jo Swerling-Abe Burrows adaptation of Damon Runyon’s street chronicles.

Michael G. Hawkins brings a winning combination of charm and street smarts to Sky Masterson, the veteran gambler who finds his life changed by one bet too many. His jaded, life-worn sensibility contrasts nicely with Victoria Strong’s winsome Salvation Army crusader.

Equally strong in the chemistry department, Ira Denmark as Nathan Detroit and Charlotte Carpenter as Miss Adelaide make their 14-year march down the aisle delightfully convincing: She carps at him in poifect doll dialect (though she has trouble sustaining it in Adelaide’s musical numbers).

The tough-talking gamblers come appealingly to life in deft supporting performances from S. Marc Jordan, Rick Kleber, Barry Pearl and Lyle Kanouse.

Brisk direction by Bill Shaw ensures an unflagging pace, and Rikki Lugo’s well-executed choreography brings appropriate dazzle to the production numbers--particularly the “Havana� nightclub scene. But “The Crap Shooters Ballet,� while impressively acrobatic, would have even more impact if the dancers registered more of the stakes in their expressions.

Ever since Jerry Zaks’ popular 1990 staging, the trend in “Guys and Dolls� revivals has been to envision the show as an oversized cartoon. This one is no exception. It’s a stylish way to deflect the dated elements, of course. Nevertheless, it also trivializes the characters’ journeys of self-redemption, which aren’t quite as antiquated as they might seem.

* “Guys and Dolls,� San Gabriel Civic Auditorium, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Sunday. $15-$43. (818) 308-2868. Running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes.