1992 Broadway Revival Cast - Guys and Dolls [1992 Broadway Revival Cast]

The 1992 +Guys and Dolls wisely repeated the best of the original. At the same time, there were minor changes. The production was bigger and more exaggerated, the characterizations more cartoonish. Musically, however, very little changed. Michael Starobin added occasional touches to George Bassman and Ted Royal's original orchestrations, but mostly recreated them. And the show benefited from outstanding casting, beginning with Faith Prince in the key role of Adelaide, the longtime fiancée of gambler Nathan Detroit. Prince, part of a long line of comic Broadway actresses that includes Judy Holliday and the original Adelaide, Vivian Blaine, nailed the part and won a Tony Award for her trouble. Equally impressive was Nathan Lane as Nathan Detroit, though it must be admitted that little of his performance made it to the cast album. Sam Levene, who created the role of Nathan Detroit. Levene was tone-deaf, and thus was given very little to do in the musical numbers. Lane is a much better singer, but the part is still musically bereft. On his one major song, essentially providing patter to Prince on "Sue Me," you can hear him turning his part into more of a singing one, but he just isn't on the record very much. Happily, Peter Gallagher, an actor not much known for singing, does well with Sky Masterson, who gets the big male songs like "Luck Be a Lady." The cast album adds a couple of instrumental dance pieces ("Havana," "The Crapshooters' Dance") and a few bits of dialogue. But like the onstage production, it is essentially similar to the original. No wonder, then, that the revival, which opened on April 14, 1992, ran 1,144 performances, almost as long as the original, and no wonder that the revival cast album is almost as good as the original, too.

- William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide