Guys and Dolls

What a privilege it was to see a group of young actors performing the classic show “Guys and Dolls”, this was no easy feat as the music can be difficult to sing, even for adult performers. Set in New York “Guys and Dolls” has lyrics and music by Frank Loesser and the story centred around the romances of two couples who are all very different characters. It also has some of the most iconic musical theatre songs in its score such as “Luck be a Lady” and “Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat”. 

Directed by Mark Shaun Walsh, his directorial debut, this young talented cast entertained us with excellent strong performances, all with a maturity that belied their ages. They included Emily Ewins ,who had a lovely singing voice and suited the role of Salvation Army Sargent Sarah Brown beautifully and Daniel Porter  gave a strong performance as her love interest Sky Masterson the gambler who accepts the bet that he won’t  be able to persuade Sarah to go to Cuba with him, they were very believable as the unlikely lovers and both maintained their very different characters throughout.  Lucy Bisseker gave an excellent mature performance in the comedic role of the dizzy night club entertainer Miss Adelaide and she was well complemented by Sam Cox who also gave a good comedic performance as her on off fiancé of fourteen years Nathan Detroit, who runs an illegal floating crap game. Rui Greaves as Nicely Nicely Johnson one of Nathan’s friends and fellow gambler expertly led the company in a superb rendition of “Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat”, Riu also has really good stage presence and rapport with the audience.  Rachel Ewins kept everyone together at The Mission as General Cartwright and she was supported by Cameron Simpson as Arvide Abernathy, who I must say sang really well especially his song with Sarah.   I would love to mention everyone in this review but I don’t want to miss anyone out as there were manyvery enjoyable performances from the actors in the supporting roles as well as from the ensemble who all performed as a team with loads of energy and enthusiasm all appearing to be enjoying themselves immensely. Generally, diction, clarity of words and American accents were spot on and the pace of the show was just right.

The cast were accompanied by a superb orchestra led by Chris Corcoran who played at just the right level so every word could be heard from the stage. Choreography by Joe Logan was well thought out, just right for the show and was executed very well by all the cast.

The set was very good, well designed add to this lighting by Going Dark and you have the makings of a great production. Costumes were authentic for the era and the production; much thought must have gone into getting them right.

 Congratulations to Director Mark Shaun and to all involved in bringing this excellent production to the stage, and for their leadership and dedication. Thank you for a very enjoyable evening, I hope to see you for your next production.

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