One looks for snap, bubble and froth in this classic wise-crackin' musical comedy about gamblers and nightclub dancers. But this production, like a couple of other traditional-style Auckland Theatre Company shows this year, falls rather flat - and it's not just the off-key singing.
The 1950s show delivers a cheeky swag of ridiculous gender stereotypes ("marry the man today and change his ways tomorrow") that beg to be delivered tongue-in-cheek.
But director Raymond Hawthorne has eschewed customary interpretations and not even the flirtations are particularly sparky here.
The usually twinkly, self-mocking I've Never Been In Love Before is sung as mournfully as a dirge, as if high-roller Sky Masterson really is worried his life is over, now that he wants to see a broad more than once.
