Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls

Presented by: Belper Musical Theatre

Venue: Community Theatre, Belper School

Performance Date: 14th. February 2017

Director: Jen Lewis

Musical Director: Dave Adey

Choreographer: Becky Pearcy

The plot of Guys and Dolls revolves around Nathan Detroit’s desperate attempts to find a venue for his latest crap game whilst being pestered by Adelaide, a night club singer, who is desperate to marry him after a 14 year long engagement. He needs to find $1000 to secure a venue and to this end he bets high rolling gambler Sky Masterson that he cannot take a doll of his choice out to dinner – this just happens to be uptight Sarah Brown, a mission worker. The show opens in a street in New York where various little scenes are being acted out followed by the first number, ‘Fugue For Tinhorns’ harmoniously delivered by Nicely (Phil Stanley),Benny (Reuben Dykes) and Rusty (Brian Counter). Chris Grantham was extremely animated as street wise Nathan Detroit. He brought out the exasperations and optimistic nature of the character perfectly and his fine singing voice was very much in evidence in his duet with Adelaide, ‘Sue Me’ which was terrific. Sarah Stone gave a first-class performance as Miss Adelaide. She captured the comedy and pathos of the character superbly and her delivery of ‘Adelaide’s Lament’ and indeed of those ‘Hot Box’ numbers were all sublime. Elizabeth Brookes was suitably refined and convincing as befits a somewhat uptight and earnest Sergeant Sarah Brown until she ‘downs’ a few alcoholic drinks and then we see an entirely different Sarah when she becomes divinely ‘drunk’ and fabulously sings ‘If I Were A Bell’. Tom Stanley was wonderful as Sky Masterson. He was so natural, relaxed and self-assured in both acting and singing, just ideally suited to the part. The chemistry between Sarah and Sky was so believable and their duets – ‘I’ll Know’ and ‘I’ve Never Been In Love’ were just exquisite. I loved the pairing of Phil Stanley as Nicely-Nicely-Johnson and Reuben Dykes as Benny Southstreet. They complemented each other perfectly they were just so funny - I only hope that Phil hasn’t put on too much extra weight after all that eating! Ian Jennison was suitably belligerent as Lieutenant Brannigan and Steve Dunning’s portrayal of Arvide Abernathy was very impressive, his rendition of ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ was so moving. Good support came from cast members in the more minor roles. The dancing by the Hot Box Girls was top-notch. ‘A Bushel and a Peck’ was delightful and they were definitely ‘hot’ in ‘Take Back Your Mink’. The Guys were certainly kept busy, firstly being down in the sewer (I do hope Nicely eventually managed to get down there!!!!!!) where they, along with Sky, moved and sang ‘Luck be a Lady’ splendidly and the number that I was really looking forward to, ‘Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat’, where they were joined by the Dolls, didn’t disappoint at all. It was superbly sung by Phil Stanley, aided by the ensemble, and the excellent movement was energetically and enthusiastically delivered. The splendid in-house set design and build depicted the various scenes by the use of triangular flats, back projections and props and I must commend the stage crew for their efficiency in carrying out the many quick changes they had to contend with. I do miss the sound that comes from an auditorium band as when it is placed in a side room it almost sounds as if the music is ‘taped’ having had to come via the sound system. Sumptuous costumes and good lighting added to make this a most enjoyable show. Congratulations to the production team and everyone involved – more I couldn’t wish for!

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