Review | Guys and Dolls at The Savoy Theatre
There are three reasons Guys And Dolls is a classic: Breezy plot, snappy dialogue, great tunes. And there’s one reason it doesn’t always fly on stage: Bad casting. For example, as dashing cad Sky Masterston (aka the Marlon Brandon role in the movie version) Ewan McGregor, a great screen actor, was as wooden as the scenery in the 2005 West End revival and, later in the run, Don Johnson was a wet-fish Nathan Detroit (aka the Frank Sinatra role).
But when they get the casting right, boy does Guys And Dolls sing! And this new revival, which marks another triumphant transfer for the Chichester Festival Theatre after last year’s Gypsy, gets it so, so right. Every single cast member, right down to the drunken bum who shuffles across the stage and an ensemble who dance their socks off, is perfect.
And it’s a perfect production. Director Gordon Greenberg nails the high spirits of a story that revolves around gamblers and missionaries in a hustling, bustling New York City. Nathan Detroit is looking to set up a crap game whilst trying to keep his fiancée, nightclub singer Miss Adelaide, happy. His gambling pal Masterston, meanwhile, has accepted a bet that he can’t whisk Save-A-Soul mission worker Sarah Brown off to Havana on a date.
Comedy naturally ensues, plus romantic stirrings and conflicting emotions – all beautifully captured by the timeless Frank Loesser songs ranging from the lovely optimistic ditty I’ll Know via the classic Luck Be A Lady to the show-stopping Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. The latter features a bunch of gamblers atoning for their sins and it’s so rousing it comes with not one but two encores.
Jamie Parker is Sky Masterston, the man whose wager ensures the mission has a full congregation of sinners, and he’s terrific. With a powerful voice and comic chops, Parker came to fame as one of Alan Bennett’s History Boys and – thanks to this and Assassins and High Society – he’s fast becoming the West End’s most exciting talent.
As Sarah Brown, the devout Bible-basher whose sexuality is awakened by Sky, Siubhan Harrison has the show’s least flashy role but she’s in fine voice and makes for a very amusing drunk. And David Haig is a spot-on Nathan Detroit – gruff and garrulous plus older and rougher round the edges than Sinatra was in the film, which makes more sense considering he’s a small-time gambler whose bride-to-be has been waiting for 14 years for a wedding.
Then there’s Sophie Thompson, Emma’s sister and a theatre star in her own right who never gives a bad performance. This could be her best yet. Her Miss Adelaide is hilarious, with a voice that starts screechy-high and goes boomingly low in every sentence – an octave range that puts even Mariah Carey to shame. But she’s not just a caricature; when she sings “I could honestly die” at the end of her face-off with Nathan in Sue Me there’s real pain and sadness. Mostly though Thompson is a hoot. Every time she’s on stage she leaves you grinning from ear to ear, as does this most wonderful of productions.
RATING: 5/5
Guys And Dolls is at the Savoy Theatre, London, until March 12, before touring the UK from March 16. For information and tickets visit guysanddollsthemusical.co.uk