Guys and Dolls

~~Based on various books by Damon Runyon about gangsters, gamblers and the characters of the New York underworld.   This much loved musical made its debut on Broadway in 1950 and been described as “a copper-bottomed show, with a life of its own and a heart as big as a skyscraper” and this production certainly paid tribute to, and reinforced those sentiments.

The orchestra was very good, and from the first notes of overture, giving a glimpse of all those wonderful toe-tapping tunes we knew that we were in for a good evening.  Congratulations also on maintaining an excellent sound balance, so we got the perfect mix between actors and musicians to enjoy the music and hear the words.

The set looked excellent (just be careful about putting hands through ‘windows’) very stylised and setting the location and time-line perfectly.  I must also congratulate the crew for the quiet and efficient movement of scenery.

Costumes looked good and, although I would have liked the Salvation Army Uniforms to have a little more weight to them, they were all very evocative and, in the main worn well and set the tone perfectly.

I was less than certain about the lighting plot as on more than one occasion people were performing in the half light, and the follow spot did not always ‘follow’.

The opening scene was ultra-stylised and highly choreographed which matched the scenery wonderfully but did not quite work for me – somehow a highly choreographed drunk just jarred - but the rag-tag of Salvation Army band was excellent on each of its many appearances with some show-stealing facial expressions to aid its progress.  I did like the ‘freeze picture’ behind gauze opening to many of the scenes – and many congratulations to the entire cast for maintaining the ‘freezes’ so well – they really only work if everyone remains quite static, and yours certainly worked!

The characterisations were quite simply excellent, the cast brought these, on the one hand seedy and doubtful, and on the other hand the righteous members of the Save-a-Soul Mission, to life as individuals we could believe in with some great and utterly believable relationships and good chemistry between the entire cast.  The facial expressions from all the principals were excellent. 

In the main the singing was good, and utterly in-keeping with the characters involved.  An totally show-stealing, tear in the eye moment with More I Cannot Wish you, and the humour and pathos of Adelaide’s Lament, both of which were simply superb, and who could resist the excellent ‘production number’ of Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat – performed and delivered SO well by the entire cast.

To sum up, a great evening, with a mainly young and enthusiastic cast – several of whom were making their first appearance with the Company – exactly the polished, professional lively and enthusiastic show I have come to expect from this Society.   Many thanks for the invitation and, as always, for looking after us so well.

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