Guys and Dolls

This week Newton Amateur Dramatic Operatic Society produced their 2019 production of Guys and Dolls at Byrchall High School.  Guys and Dolls is a romantic comedy that tells the story of a high rolling gambler (Sky Masterson) who falls in love with a missionary (Sarah Brown).  This toe tapping musical has an abundance of hit songs and tonight’s performance left us singing them all in the car on the way home. 

This version of Guys and Dolls opened to an excellent crowd scene that filled the stage and was ever moving.  It was a great impact to the overall piece and the crowd scenes throughout were brilliantly directed.  The director for this production was Vicky Dilworth.  A couple of things that really stood out in this production were the storytelling and the characterisations.  Each actor had their own individual character and the way that they carried themselves physically and vocally was really apparent.  The storytelling was also good, as was the pace of the piece.  Guys and Dolls is a really long musical, particularly the first half, but I felt that the pace was good throughout.  There were some minor technical elements that needed to be worked on such as some of the levels of the mics but visually and vocally this production was great.  I also felt that Nathan’s newsstand could’ve been established more in the opening scene/act.  I loved watching the live band throughout and having a live band really enhanced the overall piece.  I also loved the use of freeze frames during some of the musical numbers, this gave it a nice throwback to the original era.  Overall, the direction was very strong, and the audience enjoyed this musical very much.

Musical Director (Barry Dilworth) was great.  The harmonies of the males were very strong and the mixture of rhythms within the songs was very well rehearsed and reflected beautifully in the singing (and choreography).  Conducted by Beth Dilworth, the band were a delight.  It was so pleasing to hear them play live and it enhanced the whole performance to a higher level.  The brass section was particularly delightful!

Choreography by Jean Carter was limited.  I fear this was due to the small space and the large cast.  All choreography was apt and reflected the era and the style of each song.  I just felt that some of it could’ve been a little more inventive or a little more daring in pushing the boundaries, particularly during ‘Havana’.  This is just my opinion however; the choreography was very apt and the dancers well-rehearsed.

Whilst the set looked a little amateur, it was used well throughout and aided both the pace and location setting.  Some of the scene changes were a little noisy (ladies’ heels) but I doubt that many of the audience would’ve heard this.  I liked the use of the cloths that were pulled across, but someone kept pulling it during scenes which was a little distracting.  The black skyline backdrop was a lovely touch.  The costumes were great.  I liked the different colours used for each of the crap shooters; their colour matching ribbons on their hats was a nice touch. 

The lighting design was good.  I particularly loved the lighting design for the crap game in the sewer ‘Luck Be A Lady’ – this was brilliant!  I did notice that some of the follow spot cues were a little late and the lighting cues were a little harshly made – that could’ve been faded a little softer – again, I’m being very picky here!

There were various issues with the levels of some of the mics for me.  Because the cast's head mics were placed in different areas of the face I felt that the person on mics could’ve adjusted the levels of some of the mics during the performance to aid the overall piece.  There was a problem with Nathan’s mic during act 1 when it kept popping throughout.  This was rectified for act 2 though.  The mix between band, cast and audience was very good.

Sky Masterson, played by Andrew Marsh, was a little too laid back for me.  It felt like Sky was depressed and a bit of a wet lettuce instead of the suave, charming impresario who gets the girl.  Whilst Andrew has a stunning singing voice and acted well throughout song, I felt that Sky was very underplayed and a little lack lustre.

Sarah Brown, played by Jenny Downden, was a little pitchy at times.  During the high notes, Jenny sounded beautiful.  I also felt that there was very little connection between Sarah and Sky – neither of them smiled or flirted during their opening scene together in the Mission.  Sarah acted the part well and had a nice rapport with Arvide.

Jean Carter played the role of Adelaide.  It’s fair to say that Jean played this part like her life depended on it.  Her characterisations were excellent.  The way she used her voice throughout her acting scenes and her songs was also brilliant.  Every time she came on stage she lifted the energy and she had a brilliant rapport with Nathan!  Well done Jean!

Jon Kennedy played the role of Adelaide’s fiancé Nathan Detroit.  I felt that Jon gave a brilliant performance of Nathan.  He really captured the role well as the cheeky crap shooter as well as the humble and bumbling idiot side to the role in his scenes with Adelaide.  Jon’s energy and commitment to character was great and he was a joy to watch! 

General Cartwright (Wendy Cox) has a nice air of authority, although she dipped between English and American accents.  Arvide Abernathy (John Naughton) gave a sweet performance and had a lovely aura about him.

Nicely Nicely Johnson was well played by Barry Dilworth.  Although Barry devoiced a little too much at times which made it hard to hear, he gave a lovely performance.  His vocals and harmonies were stunning!  I also loved the characterisations that he brought and the eating something new in every scene was a touch of genius!

Benny Southstreet was played by Jordan Billings.  Jordan was very naturalistic in this role and had a great sense of calm about him.  He was also very watchable and gave a great acting and singing performance – one to watch for the future!

Big Jule was played by Gary Williams.  Gary gave a great performance in this role and was convincing as Big Jule.  Harry the Horse, (Matthew Swann) was a little overacted for me.  He stood out as the one who was ‘different’ from the others.  Saying that, I felt that Matthew committed to the role brilliantly and used his cigar and voice to aid his characterisation. Lt Brannigan (Danny Murray) was very authoritative – at times a little too much.  I felt that being physical with some of the characters was at the detriment to the character and the overall piece.  I was hoping for a little more light and shade to his voice too.

Overall, I enjoyed this performance.  The crowd scenes were very strong and there was a lot of storytelling going on.  The ensemble did brilliantly to carry themselves ‘within the style’ of the era and they were very entertaining to watch.  It was clear that a lot of work has gone into characterisation and storytelling and this was apparent in this performance.  Overall, there was still a few minor technical elements that could’ve enhanced this performance even more, but the audience and I enjoyed Guys and Dolls.  I thank NADOS for their very kind hospitality and I wish them all the very best for their next Panto production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’!

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