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Guys and Dolls
Presented by: SLAMS Music Theatre Company
Venue:
The Karalyka Theatre, East
Ringwood
Reviewer: Emmalee Bell
Date Reviewed: 28th September, 2007
"I
know I’ve seen this show before
In some old high school gym
On someone’s basement floor
I know I’ve seen this show before
I thought I knew the songs
I know I know the score"
As these lyrics from Forbidden Broadway’s tribute to Guys
and Dolls (set to the tune of “I’ve Never Been in Love Before”)
suggests, you would be hard pressed to find someone who
hasn’t seen Guys and Dolls. This Frank Loesser musical based on
stories and characters by Damon Runyon has been a fixture on stages
around the world since it opened on Broadway in 1950.
The story of Nathan Detroit, the organiser of the oldest
established permanent floating crap game in New York, who bets
fellow gambler Sky Masterson that he can't take Sergeant Sarah
Brown, a pure-at-heart Salvation Army-type reformer to Havana plays
on the “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” premise. It is this
universally recognised phenomenon and its comical complications that
make this show so entertaining.
Directors Julia Roper and Mark Woods were very brave in tackling a
show as well known and loved as Guys and Dolls. It is very difficult
to be creative when the audience has very high expectations of
seeing a carbon copy performance. Mark and Julia succeeded in
retaining the inherent charm of the piece while attempting to put
their own stamp on the production. While it is great to see
Directors experiment, it is also important to not to be different
for the sake of being different. In particular the multiple changes
in location throughout the Havana scene and the complex non-spoken
storyline made the scene overly long and confusing. However this is
a very small criticism of a pair of directors who have assembled a
solid cast of performers.
No wonder everyone has been complaining that they can’t find any
decent guys for their male ensemble - they have all been snapped up
by SLAMS. The male ensemble was adorable as a roguish bunch of
“genuine sinners” with each member allowing their individual
characters to shine through. Their vocal harmonies were of an
exceptionally high standard and were consistently strong throughout
the show, even when executing their appropriately pitched
choreography (by Gemma Purdy). The ensemble’s performance of “Sit
Down You’re Rocking the Boat” clearly moved the audience with its
high energy and powerhouse vocals and was one of the best
interpretations I had seen.
The leading roles were all superbly well cast. Nathan Illes played
Sky Masterson with wonderful sexiness and charm. His smooth vocal
style was perfectly suited to the role and his rendition of “Luck Be
a Lady” was a highlight of the second act. Stephanie Moore has a
beautiful voice and sang the role of Sarah Brown with ease.
Jess Barlow really made the role of Miss Adelaide her own portraying
her as melodramatic and slightly manipulative instead of as the more
usual clueless, hard-done-by, victim. Her high pitched squawks in
“Bushel and a Peck” were hilarious as was her singing competition
with Nathan in “Sue Me”. Karl MacNamara seemed to be channelling
Rooster Hannigan from Annie in his portrayal of Nathan Detroit and
succeeded in creating a very lovable rogue.
Jenter Zilm (the best stage name EVER!) hilariously ate his way
through the entire performance and very nearly stole the show as
Nathan Detroit’s side-kick, Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Along with Benny
Southstreet (played with Ryan Purdy), the pair delivered a solid
version of the show/s title song, and set a high standard for the
show with Rusty Charlie (Christopher Doran) in the opening song
“Fugue for Tinhorns”.
I
would like to make special mention of Lucy Leek as General
Cartwright, James Antonas as Lt Brannigan and Claude Trevisan as
Arvide Abernathy. This trio often gets lost amongst the more
colourful characters, however on this occasion they all managed to
hold their own. Particularly Arvide who has the difficult job of
having to sing “More I Cannot Wish You” – without a doubt the most
awful show tune ever written.
Commendations must go to the whole cast for the quality of your
accents. Guys and Dolls has the potential to be murdered with
excruciatingly bad American accents, but the accents used were all
appropriate and well-executed. Well done!
It was unfortunate that obvious budget constraints meant that the
visually the show did not match the quality of the cast. While I
liked the set design, the sets appeared flimsy and were slow to
move, contributing to the lengthy 3-hour running time of the show.
The visual effect of the show was also let down by the lighting that
left the actors in near darkness on several occasions.
Overall, this production of Guys and Dolls was thoroughly enjoyable
and will not disappoint fans of this perennial favourite!
Emmalee’s obsession with musical theatre developed in Warrnambool
where she performed in over 20 productions. While studying Arts
Management at WAPPA, Emmalee performed at the Regent Theatre in Les
Miserables and the King and I. Since returning to the East, Emmalee
was in productions of Ragtime, Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), The
Sound of Music (Maria) and CLOC’s Cats. Her next adventure will be
in the Producers with Whitehorse Musical Theatre and on television
in the new Fox8 reality series The Singing Office.
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