Review: Guy & Doll

See what the critics are raving about...

- Barbara and Scott Siegel, TheaterMania
- Christopher Byrne, GayCity News
- Stu Hamstra, Cabaret Hotline Online
- Michael Dale, BroadwayWorld.com
- Naila Francis, The Intelligencer (in PDF)

Barbara and Scott Siegel, TheaterMania

"Sensational... Inspired... Endearing and enjoyable...

This elegantly crafted show stars two musical theater character actors, Brian Tom O'Connor as The Guy and Debra Vogel as The Doll. It's an act with a sharply defined musical comedy sensibility that takes the audience through the cycle of romantic relationships. . . .The two stars are funny, touching, and totally in character.

Christopher Byrne, GayCity News

"Charming... Uproariously funny...Buoyant chemistry... Delightful... Quite moving..."

In a cynical world, the new cabaret revue Guy and Doll, at Don't Tell Mama, is an absolutely refreshing, gentle and thoroughly delightful diversion that pairs the warm and talented Debra Vogel and Brian Tom O'Connor in a series of vignettes about the trials and tribulations of seeking love, dating, and marriage.

Ms. Vogel and Mr. O'Connor generate the same kind of lighthearted electricity that made the screwball comedies of the 1930s work.

The songs have been chosen with care and under the music direction of Darryl Curry finds a perfect mix between comedy and musicality.

Guy & Doll has such simplicity and good fun and feels so present and honest, it seems like the perfect antidote to the cold and mechanized entertainment of such abominations as American Idol or even Survivor. That kind of entertainment holds no appeal to me. I'd rather spend my time and money any day watching two charming people singing their hearts out and really exploring the emotional range of a song. Guy & Doll delivers just that and more. It's a fine, fun evening. [Back to Top]

Stu Hamstra, Cabaret Hotline Online

Guy & Doll, a cabaret-theater revue starring musical comedy duo Debra Vogel and Brian Tom O'Connor, continues its triumphant return to DON'T TELL MAMA.

The chemistry between these two show-business veterans shines through every line. It's a chuckle a minute, with lots of side-splitters sprinkled in - all done with aplomb. [Back to Top]

Michael Dale, BroadwayWorld.com

Brian Tom O'Connor and Debra Vogel are probably not the type of performers you have in mind when you first think of the New York cabaret scene, but their show Guy and Doll, making a return engagement to Don't Tell Mama, is not your typical cabaret evening.

In reviewing their last New York outing, How to Be Perfect, I described their chemistry as reminiscent of what you might have found in a 1960's television special starring Jackie Gleason and Nancy Walker, but this time their work, though still raucously funny, is tinged with a few subtler shades. Director Elfin Frederick has truly helped shape them into a musical comedy version of Mike Nichols and Elaine May. They are sketch comics who use showtunes for punch lines in playing out charming and funny vignettes of male/female romantic relationships. Working without amplification, the two of them have solid musical comedy character actor voices -- his a light baritone and hers a sassy belt -- and are staged as though we're watching scenes from a book musical. (Musical staging is by Nora Brown.)

It all starts with seduction," the pair reminds us as they begin with "Seduction in three cities: London, Venice and (Irving) Berlin." The trio begins with Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's "Have Some Madeira, M'Dear", a rarely heard gem from their revue At The Drop Of A Hat. "Thinking," by Rodgers and Sondheim, is used to demonstrate the awkwardness of asking for that first date and, in an inspired set-up, Irving Berlin's "You're Just In Love" is played out in the office of a lecherous psychiatrist.

In another fun combination, a dinner date is set to the tunes of "Frim Fram Sauce" (Redd Evans and Joe Ricardel), "Honeysuckle Rose" (Fats Waller and Andy Razaf) and "Squeeze Me" (Waller and Spencer Williams).

More poignant moments are done effectively with "Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week" (Styne and Cahn), "I Wanted to Change Him" (Styne, Comden and Green) and "And What If We Had Loved Like That" (Maltby and Shire), but there's always a funny duet on the horizon like "Cherry Pies Ought to Be You" (Porter) or "Take a Job" (Styne, Comden and Green). And especially clever bit involves Adler and Ross' "I'll Never Be Jealous Again" performed as part of a medical study on human behavior involving Barbie and Ken Dolls.

Darryl Curry is not only the music director and accompanist, but he's also a welcome participant in both vocals and hi-jinks.

One of the things that makes O'Connor and Vogel so enjoyable is that their shows are completely family friendly, without any overtly sexual or controversial material, and yet there is no lack of adult sophistication. Guy and Doll is the kind of show you can take you conservative out-of-town relatives to, but it's also a terrific pick for date night. [Back to Top]