Guys and Dolls

[This review needs to be read in a New York accent.]

We are seated in the auditorium doing what audiences do before the curtain goes up, which is to overhear the conversation of the nice little lady in the row in front of us.  The house lights are up, so the show is not starting.  Suddenly Nigel Finch in the pit lets rip the band with a blast of brass and percussion and the whole audience jumps like someone sets off a firecracker, and the nice little lady in the row in front lets go a word that may be indicative that she is not such a nice little lady after all.  And this is a great lesson to us all.  This is the way to get the audience to pay attention to the overture.

Then we are into Runyonland and meeting the characters and finding that, as Nathan Detroit, Keith Wiggans really does have the air of a guy with an urgent need of a thousand Washingtons to fund a venue for his floating crap game.  He makes to resolve this by way of a wager with Sky Masterson (who is portrayed by Tom Harrison as a man who has the requisite amount of potatoes and is thus of high standing amongst the playing fraternity) and it is unfortunate that, on the first night when we see the show, the one moment where the sound balance tips too much in favour of the musicians is where the band of the holy rollers marches on as Detroit spots and names the subject of the bet.

Kerry Butcher does not play the role of Miss Adelaide; she inhabits the part to such an extent that it seems it was written for no other person than her.  Her cabaret is backed-up by some fine hoofing from the Hot Box Girls.  When Sky takes Miss Sarah Brown to Havana we are treated to another dancing display, this one led by none other than Harry Andreou who is our choreographer against this proposition, and it is a great shame that he does not come on in the curtain calls to get the cheer that this contribution deserves.  There is a very entertaining fight led by Kerry-Jayne Lilly as Miss Sarah Brown.  This character is more than somewhat under the influence of the local coconut milk and makes to fight everyone on the floor, if only the floor will stay still.  It should be pointed out that this is directed by Steven Lilly who strikes a blow for brothers everywhere by getting his sister to do what he tells her.  When she sings ‘If I were a bell’ it is a magical combination of singing perfectly whilst sounding and acting so drunk that eventually she has to be carried out over the shoulder of her date, who seems built for this role.  (When I discuss this afterwards with my ever-loving wife, she refers to the scene where they go to Hawaii, and this is an understandable mistake in the circumstances.)

The era is beautifully created by Sue Tatnall and Heather Cousins in the wardrobe department.  They give the dolls plenty of excursions in different costumes, whilst the guys are fitted-out in suits with no vents and the big shoulders so that we do not see that Big Jule is carrying a Roscoe until Nathan Detroit gives him the pat down and discovers the equaliser in his inside pocket.

Alongside Louis Spencer in the role of Benny Southwest, we find Mike Alborough as Nathan Detroit’s other scout, Nicely-Nicely Johnson.  Now those of us who have expectations in these matters are surprised to find that Nicely-Nicely does not have a figure that approximates to the spherical, but seeing the amount he eats in the course of the show, maybe he achieves it by the end of the run.  When it comes to ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’, Alborough nails the song to the stage and stamps his name all over it.  With strong backing from the chorus this is an absolute delight.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.