Guys and Dolls

Set in 1950s Manhattan, Guys and Dolls tells of conman Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find new life for his illegal crap game without raising the suspicions of both the police and his fiancée of fourteen years, Miss Adelaide. It was a pleasure for me to visit a group outside of my district as the usual district representative was unavailable to see this production.

The role of Nathan Detroit was played by Matthew Geary. Matthew had a nice character, wrestling with trying to find a venue for the crap game and with keeping Miss Adelaide happy! He had a strong singing voice in the musical numbers.

Miss Adelaide was played by CMTS stalwart, Jo Postle. She gave a good performance as the long-suffering fiancée of Nathan. She had great character throughout.

Sky Masterson, the cool, slick gambling man who later falls in love and becomes a member of the mission was played by Elliott Postle. He had a strong character and good vocals and formed a good partnership alongside Laura Mitchell as Sarah Brown.

Laura gave an excellent performance as the mission worker who falls in love with the gambling man. Her vocals were crystal clear in the musical numbers and her diction was very good throughout. Well played.

Rhys Probert played Nicely-Nicely Johnson. He had an excellent singing voice and his rendition of ‘Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat’ was brilliant. He had a good character and a great partnership with Rob Langley-Swain who played Benny Southstreet. Rob was also great throughout the production. Showcasing strong vocals and a well-defined character, the pair were joined by Jason Bradbury (Rusty Charlie) in ‘Fugue For Tinhorns’ which was a particular highlight on the night for me with the trio delivering their harmonies perfectly.

The remainder of the principal cast and the ensemble worked well to deliver this classic production to the audience.

From a technical standpoint, there were some occasional issues with sound, namely a few instances of feedback through the sound system and the backing track of one of the musical numbers being muted at one point. This was covered extremely well by the cast who continued singing in perfect timing until the volume was restored.

The staging for this particular production was very interesting. It featured a small, raised platform with the audience sitting ‘in the round’ and a further, larger and more traditional stage space. This enabled the action to be played on many different levels and for the most part, this simple staging was very effective. Some of the larger ensemble pieces did feel a little chaotic in the smaller floor space but the cast handled it well.

Without doubt, the real strong point in this production was the quality of the singing. The principal cast sang well and the ensemble more than held their own in the group numbers with superb harmonies, blend and dynamics. Director and Musical Director, Mille-Ellen England should be congratulated for her efforts in achieving such a brilliant sound.

I had a great night and would happily visit again. Best of luck CMTS with your future productions.

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