Grand Theatre, Leeds – 25 May 2016
I’ve never seen Guys and Dolls before so I’m not sure if I am upset this has passed me by or happy I have finally found this wonderful gem of a show.
Set in the 1950’s with some beautiful fashions and lovely costumes, Guys and Dolls tells a story of good versus evil. Gamblers versus God.
Nathan Detroit (Maxwell Caulfield) a hustler looking for a place to hold a crap game has been engaged to Miss Adelaide, a dancer, for 14 years with no sign of a wedding. Desperate to find $1000 he bets that Sky Masterton (Richard Fleeshman) won’t be able to take Sister Sarah Brown, the Salvationist, to Havana
Adelaide (Lucy Jane Adcock) has told her mother, in weekly letters, that Nathan married her 12 years ago and they now have 5 children and another on the way. In “Miss Adelaide’s Lament“, she sings that she has a cold due to psychosomatic problems whilst waiting for Nathan to marry her “Just from waiting around. For that little band of gold. A person can develop a cold”
Sarah Brown (Anna O’Byrne) wants to reform all the gamblers and low life at her Salvation Army mission. A bet with Sky gets her 12 sinners in to her prayer meeting to impress her boss, General Cartwright (Melanie Marshall). She falls in love with Sky but like Adelaide, she wants to change him. Not realising they wouldn’t be the men she fell in love with if they change them.
The show is filled with fabulous songs and excellent choreography but it is the show stopping “Sit down, you’re rockin the boat” which captivates the show. Sung by Nicely Nicely Johnson (the wonderful Jack Edwards), this is a joyous moment in a wonderful show
In Leeds until 28 May and on tour around the UK