Broadway

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

 (Lyceum Theater, N.Y.; 889 seats; $45 top)

By JEREMY GERARD

A National Actors Theater presentation, in association with the Goodspeed Opera House, of a musical in two acts with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Leo Robin and book adapted from the Anita Loos novel by Loos and Joseph Fields. Director, Charles Repole.
 
Cast: Karen Prunzik (Dorothy Shaw), KT Sullivan (Lorelei Lee), Allen Fitzpatrick (Gus Esmond), Carol Swarbrick (Lady Phyllis Beekman), David Ponting (Sir Francis Beekman), Susan Rush (Mrs. Ella Spofford), George Dvorsky (Henry Spofford), Jamie Ross (Josephus Gage); Angela Bond, Joe Bowerman, Richard Costa, Dick Decareau, Paula Grider, Lisa Hanna, Bryan S. Haynes, John Hoshko, Ken Nagy, Wendy Roberts, Lorinda Santos, Craig Waletzko.
 

A show's star should exceed its grasp, or what's a vehicle for? As gold digger nonpareil Lorelei Lee, Carol Channing advanced from ingenue to stardom on the opening night of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in December 1949; Marilyn Monroe brought an altogether different sensibility to the film version. The score boasts Jule Styne's propulsive music and Leo Robin's funny, sophisticated lyrics , with "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and "Bye Bye Baby" becoming standards. Nevertheless, Channing was the draw.

Now comes the Goodspeed Opera House revival, courtesy of Tony Randall's gasping National Actors Theater, which is presenting the Connecticut transfer as its sole offering of the season.

The production is instructive as an example of talent that can appear persuasive outside the theater district, but that withers in the Broadway spotlight. Energetic to the point of exhaustion, the show wears its every effort on its sleeve, and no element rises above the ordinary.

In the lead, cabaret star KT Sullivan embodies Brooks Atkinson's description of Channing as "a dazed automaton, husky enough to kick in the teeth of any gentleman onstage, but mincing coyly in high-heel shoes and looking out on a confused world through big, wide, starry eyes."

Automaton or not, however, Lorelei Lee also must exude an effortless, irresistible, sexual magnetism, which Sullivan does not. The vacancy is so overdone that it's impossible to affirm what that smitten button manufacturer Mr. Esmond (an affable Allen Fitzpatrick) sees in her.

An equally telling example of the shortcomings of Charles Repole's cloying production is the performance of Karen Prunzik as Lorelei Lee's protege, Dorothy Shaw. With a smile as wide as her legs are long, Prunzik is adorable, and she's given any number of showcases for her tapping. But except for a pleasant Charleston at the finale, Michael Lichtefeld's dances are graceless; the ensemble lacks the razor-sharp precision that is the Broadway standard; and none of Prunzik's applause-milking preening is warranted by the actual steps in her solos, which are routine.

Opening night at the Lyceum was a minor fiasco marked by mysterious tech delays, poor sound balance and constantly blown cues as painted drops bounced up and down in search of their proper placement. Eduardo Sicangco's scenery is a mixed bag, and some of it already looks beaten up. Ditto his costumes, some of which are smashing, though most of the ones for the star are unflattering.

The production isn't in the same league as other recent revivals; then again, neither is the show. And it's sheer euphemism to position this as a co-production of the Randall troupe; it's an import, pure and simple. National Actors Theater is on the ropes.

Choreography, Michael Lichtefeld; musical direction, Andrew Wilder; orchestrations, Douglas Besterman; musical supervision, vocal arrangements, Michael O'Flaherty; dance music by Gordon Harrell; sets, costumes, Eduardo Sicangco; lighting, Kirk Bookman; sound, T. Richard Fitzgerald; executive producer, Manny Kladitis. National Actors Theater artistic director, Tony Randall; Goodspeed Opera House executive producer, Michael P. Price. Opened , reviewed, April 10, 1995. Running time: 2 hours, 15 min.