Guys and Dolls

‘Guys and Dolls’ – set in 1950’s New York tells the story of Gamblers, show girls, an on and off engagement and mission workers.  Gambler Nathan Detroit is trying to find a venue for his craps game, which has been going on for some time.  Following him is his fiancée of 14 years and Hot Box nightclub hostess, Adelaide who, after writing to her mother, needs Nathan to marry her and look after the 4 children she has told her mother about.  To raise money Nathan bets with Sky Masterson who is in town looking for a game that he can take missionary Sarah Brown to Havana.  So the fun begins when Sky starts to like Sarah. 

Sky and Sarah were played by husband and wife team Sasha and Dan Barnes.  These two really worked well together and the chemistry between them really came over the footlights.  Great acting and singing.  They were supported by Matt Hunt as Nathan Detroit and Bexs Perry as Miss Adelaide.  Again, a wonderful pairing.  Bexs really excelled in the role with some great singing in the Hotbox Club.  The four main principals were well supported by Paul Wescott as a wonderful Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Ravin Thakar as Benny Southstreet.  I enjoyed the performance of Di Mannion as Arvide Abernathy, really nice to see a female in this role.  Great support came from the remainder of the company.  You could tell that every member of this company was really enjoying themselves and they all worked so well together.

One of the highlights for me was the chorus number ‘Sit Down Your Rocking The Boat’  it was so well done and deserved the long lasting applause from the sell out audience. Many congratulation to choreographer Celine Kirton. 

Lighting and sound was really good, you could hear every word, and the costumes looked great from an audience point of view.  The backstage team worked well and I am still unsure how the sets changed as you did not see any of them.

Richard McNally-Reilly did a great job with the production and should be proud of what he achieved.

Congratulations to you all and happy 50th anniversary.

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