Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy set in Manhattan. It tells of local con-man, Nathan Detroit`s attempts to set up a venue for his notorious crap game quickly, but does not have the money that the venue demands. Enter Sky Masterson-high rolling gambler, Nathan bets him that he can`t take a doll, Missionary Sarah Brown to Cuba on a date with him. When Sky agrees to the bet, all kinds of shenanigans ensue resulting in the game taking place in the mission, people falling in and out of love and, of course, a happy ending. With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the score for Guys and Dolls is excellent, with many a heartstring tugging solo, large chorus numbers and plenty of toe tapping dance set-pieces.

Whilst the story revolves around Sky and Sarah, Nathan Detroit is the heart and soul of the show, driving the story along. Played confidently by Martin Gregory, Nathan managed to win over the audience, as well as his long suffering love, Adelaide. Martin`s comic timing shone through- especially in his scenes with Adelaide, played with panache by Trudi Carter. Eking every ounce of comedy from the role, Trudi managed to maintain the squeaky innocence, not just through speech, but through song throughout, making her “intellectually challenged” Adelaide an audience favourite.

Sky Masterson, the smooth, slick Broadway gambler was played by Chuck Fish. This was a baptism of fire for Chuck- it`s a heck of a place to start. Chuck sang it well and his delivery was good, though on the odd occasion it felt as though it was delivered as a lawyer delivering a closing speech in a trial- delivering it to us the audience (or jury), rather than the people he was interacting with onstage. Because of this, you didn`t really feel that there was much of a connection between Sky and Sarah. That said, as his first leading role (and they don`t come much more major than this), Chuck played it really well.

Annabel Sharp played Sarah Brown. Sarah is the sweet “girl next door”- gently authoritative with a bit of a taste for adventure. Annabel`s Sarah was quite shy and thoughtful, her songs showing off a beautiful voice throughout all of her numbers, it just felt a shame that there didn`t feel as though there was a real connection between her and Sky

Ian Wilson took on the role of Arvide Abernathy, Sarah`s Grandfather. Ian`s warmth towards Sarah showed, especially through his “More I cannot wish you”, this being one of the highlights of the show for me.

Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet were played by Simon McCleery and Thomas Kidd- both relishing their roles as small-time Gamblers, Simon coming into his own during “Sit down you`re rocking the boat”.

Big Jule and Harry the Horse were capably well played by Pam Mellor and Reece Carter, even when rolling the dice and calling the wrong numbers… all under the watchful eye of Lt Brannigan (David Lamb). Due to Brannigan`s accent, I couldn`t quite catch which area of Manhattan he was from.

The ever smiling Amy Ollerton took on the role of General Matilda Cartwright, the formidable leader of the Save-A-Soul mission- just managing to forget her smile long enough to appear imposing.

All other minor roles were filled and played be the other chorus members, doubling up from crap shooters, Mission Band and Hot Box Girls. I really enjoyed the “Take back your mink” number, but couldn`t work out if  half of them were not supposed to know the dance on purpose, if this was the case, then it came over really well.

A few notes though, if you`re going to dress Doll`s up as Guys, put “proper” shoes on them not character shoes, leave any “local” place references to Pantomime and if you`re going to wear a wristwatch, make sure it`s of the period (or at least looks like it is), not a modern day one- Yes, these are little things, but they can make a big difference. 

The chorus were well drilled movement- wise and vocally throughout all of the chorus numbers. You could tell that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves from the moment they were onstage, to the moment they went off.

Lighting, sound and set were good. Scenery and lighting again cleverly integrated to suit the venue. Sound was good (one of the “little things” I`ve mentioned in the past), with much more attention being taken with cues. 

The Orchestra, under Jane Thedham sounded excellent, and the work with the company was there to see, and hear.

With each show under your belt, you learn new things, as I`m sure Director and Choreographer Hannah Fish will testify. This year`s production, I felt, had moved on both technically and in ensemble work. Well done.

Thank you Grange, for your invitation, and hospitality. Looking forward to My Fair Lady next Year.

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