Guys and Dolls

At first reading of the synopsis for Guys and Dolls it would seem unlikely material for a musical set, as it is , in the underworld of New York peopled by gangsters, gamblers and their molls but Frank Loessers musical score successful;;y turned it into one of Broadways most memorable scores with a collections of warm, colourful characters who, despite their feelings, endear themselves to the audience worldwide.

Tingdene entertainers, as ever, put heart and soul into their productions and I thought that male principals and chorus made a fine job of ‘The Oldest Established’ – always important to get a show off to a flying start. 

I felt that the pairing of Dan Pothecary (Sky) and Lizzie Langson (Sarah) needed more time to develop their respective characters as they didn’t quite seem to have gelled (I did see the first performance).  But well done to Alice Pugh who made her stage debut and had got the nasal tones on Miss Adelaide off to a T as she sang her lament and vainly tried to pin her finance Nathan Detroit down to naming the wedding dat.  Her character was nicely complemented by Chris Lunch (Nathan) as he desperately tried to set up his crap game and keep his finance sweet.  I enjoyed David Gudgeons (Nicely-Nicely Johnson) sterling rendering of ‘Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat’ – always a high light of this show and also Clive Riddle (Arvide Abernathy) whose singing of ‘More I cannot Wish You had a real feeling of sincerely about it.

Lots of energetic movement in Bushel and a Peck and a very colourful set of costumes for the Havana scene enhanced the show greatly which achieved that overall feel good factor.

The efficient back stage team ensured the smooth changes of sets while underscoring by the orchestra helped to keep the pace of the show up to speed.  There was some unbalance at times between voice and music – words are very important and the audiences needs to hear them all.  A very entertaining evening though so many thanks to all.

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