Guys and Dolls

It is a pleasure to start a review with praise for “the Chorus” because the ensemble in this production, especially the men, was excellent.  The 20 or so crapshooters were superb from their main opening number of “The Oldest Established” through to “Luck Be a Lady” and ultimately the excellent  “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat”, where they were joined by virtually the full company.  To be honest, in this production the Guys outshone the Dolls in their major routines.

Richard Skelton (Sky Masterson) and Bekki Grange (Sarah Brown) were a very good pairing and their voices blended well.  Richard’s diction was excellent and, as usual, he gave us a super performance with all his experience shining through.

Chris Holmes as Nathan Detroit, the lovable rogue, was solid but perhaps both he and his long suffering fiancée, Adelaide, (Sarah Lazenby) could have been played a bit softer allowing them to show a little more affection towards each other.

Russell Fallon was very entertaining as Nicely Nicely Johnson and Terry Halliwell (Arvide Abernathy) sang “More I Cannot Wish You” beautifully.  There was also steady support from the “minor” principals including Richie Donaldson (Big Jule), Shirley Watts (General Cartwright) and Brian Nickson (Harry the Horse).

The vocals were good throughout with strong harmonies and the cast was well accompanied by the orchestra.  The set was very effective and although at times I thought that some of the show’s wonderful humour was missed, all in all this was a very enjoyable production, very worthy of Hull New Theatre.

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