Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is simply one of the all-time Classic Musicals packed full of musical highlights.   With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. it is based on two short stories "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", by Damon Runyon. It premiered on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 1,200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical and has been a firm audience favourite since then.  It is also particularly known for its brilliant 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.

BMTG tonight brought another fresh take to this classic which focussed very much of the strengths of the show.  The minimalist two level set and sympathetic lighting from Dave Martin providing a great backdrop to the action and set piece song and dance numbers throughout.  This setting allowed the many scene changes to be executed quickly to the underscore from the excellent thirteen piece orchestra led expertly by MD Chris Toon.

George Lamb had taken the brave decision to not edit any scenes from the show which I think paid off.  It was great to see the show as originally intended, including dream sequences, without George feeling he had to be slavishly constrained by the very prescriptive stage directions present in the Lib/Score.  This did result in a 150-minute show, but thanks to the energy, professionalism and characterisation by the cast, crew and orchestra the time flew by and I was never tempted to look at my watch at any point in the production.

Although this show requires a very strong ensemble, something that BMTG excels at both vocally and in movement, a production of Guys and Dolls can stand or fall with any weakness in its Principal performers.  From the first scene it was clear that the audience and I had nothing to worry about in this respect. 

Jodie Lakin, in her first on-stage lead role, simply sparkled as Miss Adelaide.  Having worked for several years in Manhattan and the Bronx to my ears her accent was spot on throughout.  Jodie effortlessly brought out the funny, naïve, determined and loving aspects of Adelaide’s character as was the quintessential triple threat being equally strong in her dance “Take Back your Mink”, vocal “Sue Me” and acting performance.  Bravo! 
Jake Gelernter as Nathan Detroit was the perfect foil to Jodie and shone in his own right throughout the production.  Nathan as a character has to drive the narrative for a significant proportion of the production especially in the first act, has to be strong vocally and quickly win the audiences sympathy and in other hands the show could easily have dragged.  Without ever overacting Jake ensured that the libretto heavy scenes were entertaining, supported the storytelling and allowed his fellow actors to shine.

The role of Sarah Brown is a particularly challenging part, having to start as a prim and reserved Save a Sole missionary who then is led astray by Sky Masterson over a bet to experience a trip to Cuba including liquor, dance and nightclub fights.    Emily Rebecca Owen brought out nuance of the character from her straight-laced first entrance to her slightly inebriated delivery of “If I were a Bell” and bitter sweet delivery of “Marry the Man Today”.  This was Emily’s first on-stage appearance in a few years and it was certainly a very strong performance throughout. 
Rhodri Denton was very much in his element as Sky Masterson bringing just the right gravitas and understated humour to the character.  His vocal highlight was “Luck be a Lady” where he channelled a combination of Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra to great effect.   

Lu Anthony as Nicely-Nicely and John Hand as Benny Southstreet were a very engaging double act throughout providing particularly strong close harmony duets with “Guys and Dolls” being a great example of their vocal clarity.  Acting was strong throughout from both Lu and John and I particularly enjoyed the running gag with Nicely-Nicely always eating snacks true to New York vendor street food.  I also have to commend Lu on how they led the whole cast in musical highlight of the evening “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” which justifiably brought the house down.  

Masie Cutts, Gareth Morris and Maria Lawrence were making their debut appearances with BMTG.  Masie as Big Julie, who just wanted to “shoot craps” was on stand-out form in all elements of the production. Gareth was clearly comfortable on stage from all his previous outings with other companies and made Harry the Horse a very three-dimensional hood, loyal to Big Julie throughout.  Maria was clearly enjoying her BMTG experience and was just right as General Cartwright.  Tim Yearsley brought just the right level of cynicism to Lt. Brannigan without making him a cliché incompetent “Keystone Cop”.  Andy Bulmer, a BMTG regular in the chorus, made a very impressive step into the spotlight as Arvide Abernathy.  His acting perfectly captured the role and his gentle rendition of “More I Cannot Wish You” was judged perfectly.

As already mentioned, Guys and Dolls is nothing without a strong ensemble/chorus and the 20 strong BMTG crew delivered, be it the joy and energy of “Havana”, “Luck be a Lady” and “Sit Down” or the precision of the Hot Box Girls in “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Take Back your Mink” every scene they were involved in was complimented to a “T” by the ensemble.  So congratulations to Jane, Phillipa, Cheryl, Ruth, Claire, Esther, Alice, Jennifer, Naomi, Daisy, Charlotte D, Charlotte H, Christine, Hannah, Amelia, William, Cibele, Sascha, Emma and Keli.

Sound and Lighting was crisp throughout as were the set changes and costuming was sympathetic to the period.  The “BMTG” sound was very much in evidence throughout of the production which of course is a testament to the performers but also the work that Chris Toon had obviously put in the rehearsal room.  His leadership of the orchestra was also very evident and the members looked like they felt very much part of the team rather than “hired hands” which added to the overall effect.   Beth Yeasley demonstrated her expertise with great Choreography in the numerous set pieces.  It was always very effective and brought out the strengths of the performers stretching the hot-box girls whilst supporting the ability of the overall ensemble.  George weaved the many strands of this excellent production together and drew the energy, enthusiasm and characterisation from his talented cast and crew to great effect and should be very proud of what he achieved in this production.

Congratulations all – I had a very enjoyable night and look forward to next year’s BMTG shows.

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