GUYS AND DOLLS

Guys and Dolls the Musical is based on a couple of short stories by Damon Runyon and contains some of Frank Loesser’s most memorable tunes. The show premiered on Broadway in 1950 running for 1200 performances and in the West End premiered in 1953. A well-known film adaptation in 1955 starred Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons.
LMS previously performed the show in 1994 and 2006 and it was great to see it staged again.

From the excellent rendition of the Overture by an 18 piece orchestra under the baton of Peter Doherty, I expected a lively show! With a mostly young cast, Michael Poole’s production moved along at a good pace. With the advantage of flying facilities in this newish theatre and decent space in front of the tabs, the stage team kept the movement flowing between the many different scenes. The scenery from Prosceneium set each scene very well and Props were appropriate and speedily set. Sound balance was good and Lighting effective - especially in the sewer scene. Costumes by Utopia were colourful and authentic with make-up and hairstyles also suitable.

The overture flowed into the opening scene with a busy ensemble of New York street vendors, sightseers, hustlers, pickpockets and police around the News Stand of Nathan Detroit – a gambler who makes his living organising crap games for his fellow gamblers and taking a cut! Played by Eoin Callaghan, he showed a pleasant nature and a man who genuinely loves his fiancée of 14 Years but cannot give up gambling to commit to marriage. Eoin was very convincing and showed good comic timing. Three gamblers – Benny Southstreet (Conor Polley), Nicely Nicely Johnson (David Keown) and Rusty Charlie (Jamie Clements) opened the show proper with the well known contra-puntal number “Fugue for Tinhorns” – a great ‘race-sheet’ song, well performed. David and Conor bounced nicely (no pun intended!) off each other – well cast in stature too with Benny the tall ‘beanpole’ and Nicely the shorter rounder one (by virtue of his very effective fatsuit! Both established differing characters from the start – I loved the knees-bend whenever David answered “Nicely Nicely thank you”! His big number “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” was well performed. Greg Doherty was suitably intimidating as hustler Big Jule and Geoff Coke as Harry the Horse, his minder. LMS were very lucky to have a good number of extra ‘gangsters’ – Ben McGinn, Christian McGowan, Kain Breydin, Aodhan Kehoe, Nathan Walker and Matthew McLaughlin – who all added to the Crapshooters Dance and “Luck be a Lady”. Jonny Everett brought out the comedy in the role of Lt. Brannigan, who is the New York cop trying to prevent Nathan’s crap games. He was always turning up without warning and his gait and ‘in your face’ attention was just the right side of a caricature.

Nathan’s long-suffering fiancée, Miss Adelaide, was played by Hannah Deane granddaughter of LMS President Donald Hill. The apple does not fall far from the tree – she was an excellent ‘not-too-bright’ showgirl and performed her musical numbers perfectly, particularly “Adelaide’s Lament” (unfortunate that her tissues were left scattered on the stage afterwards) and “Marry the Man today”. Miss Adelaide’s Hotbox girls – 16 strong – were terrific dancers and made an impression during the Havana scene as well as their showpieces “Bushel and a Peck” and “Take back your Mink”. The Mission band had mostly older and non-dancing females led by Kate Porter as Agatha and Donald Hill banging his drum as Arvide Abernethy, and singing “More I cannot wish You” most beautifully. Judith O’Hare was General Matilda Cartwright, the regional Director
of the Save-a-Soul mission. She arrived as an authority figure but gradually melted to join in with “Rockin the Boat” – as did all the mission members. Special mention must be made of Tom Adair who genuinely played trombone in the mission band.

Adding Ashton Murphy as Sarah Brown and Warren McCook as Sky Masterson was a sure-fire way to make Guys & Dolls a hit! Ashton’s sublime soprano voice to “I’ll know” and “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” was something I have never witnessed before. She also adjusted her voice to ”Marry the Man Today” very well and her progressive drunken state was well handled in “If I were a Bell”. She blended well with Warren in their duets and there was good chemistry between them throughout. Warren’s performance was stylish and appealing.

Guys and Dolls took LMS back to the top of their game. The music gave Peter Doherty a chance, with a very competent orchestra, to shine. Using her choreographic skills and her own dance students for specialist numbers, Venessa brought the music to life and Director Michael Poole brought the show to life.

My congratulations to them and everyone involved on and off stage. My thanks also to Valerie and team for their generous hospitality.

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