"Guys and Dolls" Review
BABIRRA
MUSIC THEATRE,
“GUYS AND DOLLS” by Based on stories and characters of Damon Runyon
Reviewed
28/5/2004 by John Gunn for “Curtain
Up” - 3CR Sundays at One (855AM).
This musical fable based on characters by Damon Runyon
has been a success story since it burst upon the stage of the 42nd.
Street Theatre in November 1950 where it happily stayed for 1200
performances and has enjoyed many revivals since that time. Today it
is considered a classic of the American musical theatre.
The story tells us of the doings of some rather shady
yet appealing characters that haunt Broadway, they are what I would
call today small time gamblers. This piece concentrates on Salvation
Army lass Sarah Brown trying to keep the Save-A-Soul Mission open…
Sky Masterson, the head
honcho in the gambling world, who incidentally is smitten
with Sarah… Nathan
Detroit, who for the last 14 years has been engaged to the star of
the Hot Box Club, Miss Adelaide, and various other characters such
as Nicely Nicely Johnson, Benny Southstreet, Harry
the Horse etc. The moral is good winning out over evil and that
(pardon the pun) Love Will Find A Way.
This production under the capable direction of Craig
Martin makes for a very enjoyable evening at the theatre and the
right medicine to cheer us up in this cold weather. Basil Hawkins’
orchestra gives the excellent score a nice Broadway sound and what a
treat to have music that you can actually come out humming. Yes we
all know ‘Sit Down Your Rockin’ the Boat’,
‘Luck Be a Lady’, ‘Guys
& Dolls’ and ‘Bushel and a Peck’
along with ‘Adelaide’s Lament’.
The many sets were fine with imaginative scenic work
from Claire Marmur although perhaps a palm or two in the Havana
scene would have added to the atmosphere, likewise the costumes for
this scene. Di
Shepherd’s choreography was well drilled and not beyond the
capabilities of the performers and costumes generally looked right
for the period. Lighting, whilst imaginative in design, did on a
couple of occasions tend to swamp the production, taking centre
stage to the actors (with not all faces clear), particularly in the
‘Guys and Dolls’ number with Nicely and Benny.
A couple of scenes could have been tighter, i.e. the opening
Broadway street scene and the crap game in the sewer but viewing the
body of work as a whole I’m sure the show will settle well.
Now to the cast, generally speaking it was a good
ensemble piece, with some stand out work from the very well cast
principals who were good actors and strong singers:
Peter Stanbrook was a smooth and good looking Sky
Masteron, a polished performance,
well thought out;
Joanne Blankfield gave
the role of Sarah Brown plenty of verve, excellent vocally and
a good drunk scene – these two lead roles can be very soppy
in the wrong hands and it was a credit to both performers that they
lifted the roles off the page to really give them life – also
it’s important to get every ounce out of these two characters so
that they don’t end up playing second fiddle to the comedy roles
of Nathan and Miss Adelaide.
Michael Laity as Nathan Detroit has lots of vocal and
physical energy and good body language – excellent work here and
he reminded me of David Atkins, Victoria Zainal as Miss Adelaide was
a knockout, she sang up a storm and never missed a beat, this is
another leading lady to watch.
Both these roles were well characterised and the two
performers made a great comedy duo.
Scott Hili was strong as Nicely Nicely Johnson, nimble
on his feet with good vocals. We
also saw nice supporting work from Wayne Motton as the Salvationist
Arvide Abernathy (‘More I Cannot Wish You’), Jim Johnson as Lt.
Brannigan, Jo
Buckingham as Agatha and
a cast too large to mention all.
To sum up, judging by Friday night’s audience,
Babirra’s production of “Guys and Dolls” is definitely
a show to send you home happy, it continues at the Whitehorse Centre
until 12/6 and you can book on 9853 9261.
I did enjoy it.
