Guys & Dolls 10.02.16

Guys & Dolls

Location: Savoy Theatre

Date Seen: 10^th February 2016

Seen With: 1 Friend

Understudies at This Performance: Carl Patrick as Benny Southstreet & Max Parker as Rusty Charlie

Summary

Guys and Dolls is a set in New York and revolves around the themes of gambling and relationships between various ‘guys’ and ‘dolls’. To get the money for secure a location for a big craps game, Nathan Detroit bets Sky Masterson $1000 to woo Sarah Brown, a conservative woman who is part of the local missions. It’s a bet he thinks he cannot lose but as he finds out, every gamble is a risk.

Acting

Whilst this musical is very exaggerated and over the top with the characters a caricature of stereotypes, there are lots of moments to see raw acting in various scenes. I felt the scenes where Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson and Siubhan Harrison as Sarah Brown really delivered as there was great on stage chemistry between these two actors and I truly believed they fell in love. That said, I felt that in some places could have been stronger and more rounded. I think this is probably down to direction but from my understanding of the plot, Nathan Detroit should have been more resilient to Adelaide’s yearnings for marriage early on rather than seeming rather complicit all the through. When he finally did agree to marry her it didn’t seem to come as a surprise.  

Music & Songs

The music in this show is varied but has real impact. I felt elated when I left the theatre singing along to some of the bigger and well known numbers. The orchestra have to be congratulated here for producing such a brilliant sound. The songs have great variety and are extremely memorable. I don’t currently own the soundtrack for this show but its near the top of my list to do so to really dig deep into the lyrics and melodies.

Choreography

I absolutely adored the choreography in this show and ranks highly in my favourite of all time. I can capture my feelings for the choreography in reflecting on 2 numbers in particular. The ‘Crapshooters Dance’ is a dance and movement piece with great use of timing and levels. I recall during the applause my mouth was gaping opening and I just went ‘wow’. The other number that stood out was ‘Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat’. The use of the full stage with the full company was a visual delight.

Direction

The direction was great for the most part of this show. I loved how everything was staged particularly how the large company numbers contrasted with the intimacy of just having one of the couples on stage sharing their moment. As mentioned with the acting, I do think that some things were missed and that characters such as Nathan Detroit were not as rounded as they could have been and I think more intervention here would have helped.

Set/Lighting

The set used is a touring set and for me doesn’t have the wow factor of some West End sets in existence. That said, it uses old advertisements well in the backdrop to set each scene up and the various movable pieces of set assist with creating the atmosphere of the mission, Havana and the sewers. The lighting has been cleverly used and really enhances the different settings. I particularly noted this in the Havana scenes as the choice of orange and yellow tones really felt like you had been travelled to the warm and sunny climate.

Costumes

The costumes really stood out to me. The guys are donned in brightly coloured and highly patterned suits which are bold and really stand out on the stage. The female costumes are also bright but fit with the 50s style with circle skirt dresses and bustiers. The Hot Box costumes are cheeky and slightly cheesy which fits perfectly.

Stand Out Performances

It’s hard to pick out stand outs in this show as the company was so strong but there were 2 people for me that managed to capture my memory and were my talking points on leaving the theatre.

Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson. As a keen Harry Potter fan, I was interested to see Jamie on stage ahead of The Cursed Child (for which I still don’t have tickets for). And he impressed me above and beyond anything I ever expected. He captures his character’s smooth talking persona perfectly and to me he wasn’t an actor, he was Sky Masterson. His vocals blue me away with rich, soulful tones. If you can get to see him in Guys & Dolls before he moves on, then you must.

Gavin Spokes as Nicely Nicely Johnson. It didn’t take long to remember my friend and I had seen Gavin as the lead in One Man, Two Guvnors when it came to Dartford. He has the same impeccable comedy timing and exciting stage presence as he did then. He captured my attention immediately and leads ‘Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat’ with ease. Hopefully this isn’t the last time I see him on stage!

Show to Show Comparisons

I can’t think of any show that I’ve seen so far that I can directly compare this to but what made this show stand out for me were the slick routines.

Would I Recommend?

Yes.

Overall Verdict (Out of 5 Stars):

4 Stars - the only reason for knocking in 1 star was for the lack of roundness with the acting which I feel is attributed to the direction more than anything.