Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is a romantic comedy musical with lyrics and music by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, based on Damon Runyon’s tales about gangsters, gamblers and characters of the New York underworld. The show is a real crowd pleaser and is still standing the test of time after it first premiered on Broadway in 1950. The story centres on Sarah Brown from the Save-A-Soul mission who is looking for ne’er-do-wells to repent their sins. She meets Sky Masterson, a renowned lucky gambler, who has been challenged to woo Sarah for a bet. However, in the process, Sky ends up falling in love with the missionary and the plot follows the highs and lows of their developing relationship.

The role of Sarah Brown was taken by Anya Bryant, a relative newcomer to the society, who I watched perform earlier in the year as the Witch in Big Fish. As soon as I saw her march on to ‘Follow the Fold’ with her mission band, I knew I was in for a treat. Anya was everything the ‘upright, but uptight’ Sarah should be. She had a lovely straight posture, a composed demeanour and, of course, a clean, sharp soprano voice. I loved her drunk acting in the Cuban club, it was one of the show’s many high points. Anya brilliantly portrayed the character’s evolving personality as her aloof frostiness gradually melted away when she fell for Sky Masterson.

Todd Vizard-Jones played this romantic lead with great charisma and was delightful to watch. Sky should be suave, smooth and quietly in command of the proceedings and Todd achieved this ten-fold. Occasionally, his diction when speaking was a little lost in his New York accent, however, his lyrics were sung crisply and with good articulation. His voice was charming and a pleasure to listen to. Todd and Anya had a great onstage rapport and their scenes were warm, playful and a joy to watch.

The other two lead characters are Nathan Detroit, a gambler constantly trying to organise his floating crap game, and his long-suffering fiancée of fourteen years, Miss Adelaide the nightclub singer. These roles were played by Oliver Norman and Lucy Potter respectively and provided much of the show’s comedy. Oliver was very watchable, and his delightfu portrayal of Nathan made him an audience favourite. He had a very credible accent with good projection and strong diction, and he delivered his gags with a punch.

For me, Lucy as Miss Adelaide stole the show. She had great energy from the outset and her performance sparkled throughout. She was vivacious and funny, and her vocal characterisation was wonderful in all its squeaky glory. Lucy’s renditions of Adelaide’s songs were masterful and took her performance to the next level. As with Anya and Sky, the onstage chemistry between Lucy and Oliver was excellent and their scenes had superb rhythm and pace.

These four top-class lead actors were supported and complimented beautifully by an ensemble of strong performers. It was lovely to see stalwarts of the society such Trevor Fenton, Christian Slingsby, Rob Callaby, Matt Brown and Natasha Connor taking on some of the smaller roles and cameos. This experience and skill enriched the ensemble and made for a more balanced show, their expertise serving to enhance the blossoming talents of the principals.

Within the supporting cast, there was a number of notable performances. Rob Smith was earnest and sincere as Arvide Abernathy and sang ‘More I Cannot Wish For’ with warmth and emotion. Jamie Shave gave a lovely performance as Benny Southstreet, cheeky and cheerful, full of understated detail. This contrasted perfectly with the exuberance and zeal of Munachukwuso Akile as Nicely-Nicely Johnson. This really was the powerhouse performance of the show, and it was a delight to watch. Munachukwuso threw his heart and soul into everything he did which gave him unquestionable stage presence. Occasionally, his enthusiasm could have been reigned in slightly during some of the bigger numbers to prevent him pulling focus, but he will learn this as his acting skills continue to bloom. His rendition of ‘Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat’ was joyful.

In my humble opinion, however, the real star of the show was Clare Allen-Evans’ choreography. Her dance routines were fresh, vibrant and energic. She played to everyone’s strengths, challenging those more proficient to stretch themselves but nurturing those who needed more support. From the sharp, stylised opening number set to the overture to the fun and frivolous ‘Havana’, every routine was well-rehearsed and slick. ‘Luck Be a Lady’ was a triumph and a true highlight.

Clare was also an assistant director, alongside Natasha Connor, and director, Stuart Bull. All three should be congratulated on bringing such an accomplished production to the stage. It had super pace and great energy.  The excellent characterisation was complimented by Stephen Chandley’s musical direction, he clearly has a talent for elevating an actor’s performance through their singing.  

The lighting design was very strong and was particularly effective in enriching the musical numbers. The sound was also strong and benefitted from not having an orchestra. I love to see and hear a live band but, in a relatively small theatre like Blackfriars, the volume can sometimes overpower the voices.

The scenery did exactly what it needs to do and set the scenes but was a little prosaic and the white cyc put in a number of appearances again. I do appreciate there are budgetary constraints, however I wonder whether something more imaginative might have complimented the high standards of the show more. On the whole, the props were good, although there were a few anomalies such as the modern umbrellas. Congratulations to Rachael Hockmeyer and her assistant, Lara Barber, for the wonderful costumes. They were bright, vivid and broadly of the era. I especially liked the outfits worn by the dancers in ‘A Bushel and a Peck’ – the feathers and colours were brilliant.

In conclusion, this was another excellent theatrical offering from BOS Musical Theatre Group and I’d like to thank everyone involved for giving me, and the whole audience, a fantastic afternoon of entertainment. I don’t know about ‘rockin’ the boat’, but you all certainly rocked Blackfriars Theatre. Well done.

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