*****
Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
Based on a story & characters of Damon Runyon
Directed by Janie Dee
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| Fabian Soto Pacheco and Lenny Turner |
In perhaps the country’s most charming setting, a seaside big top perched on the cliffs of Frinton-on-Sea, Janie Dee has helmed perhaps the most equally charming production of Guys & Dolls to have been seen in quite a while.
This Frinton Summer Theatre musical will only run for two weeks and so of necessity is modestly budgeted. Dee however, and in her first rodeo as director of a fully-staged show too, has carefully crafted the Broadway classic to focus on the individuals rather than the spectacular. Many of the cast are sensibly doubled up in different roles and Dee shifts the opening number Runyonland, which would typically depict New York’s hustle and bustle, to a calmer but imaginative balletic prologue delivered by three local child performers.
Dee’s cast are magnificent, with her four leads’ passion infusing the show with energy and expertise. Lenny Turner and Isabella Gervais play Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown, delivering a chemistry, yea chemistry, between them that is simply sensational. Both vocally stunning with Gervais’ soprano proving exquisite in its fidelity. Gervais also delivers some imaginative and impressive work on an aerial hoop in the Havana scenes. Turner’s Sky is the best to have been seen in years. Not just in his mellifluous tone, but also in his capturing the very essence of Masterson’s cool.
Fabian Soto Pacheco nails Nathan Detroit’s wry New York shtick to a tee. In a thoughtful tweak to the original, and recognising that Frank Loesser’s libretto virtually excludes Nathan Detroit from any singing responsibilities, Dee has changed a couple of lyrics to include him in the title number. Josephina Ortiz Lewis grows into becoming Miss Adelaide - a role that is one of the most complex in musical comedy - with her humour and irony landing perfectly as the show builds to its fairytale ending.
Other notables in the company are Jack McCann’s Nicely Nicely Johnson who dutifully delivers an encore-worthy Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat, Clive Brill’s genial Arvide Abernathy and Alfie Wickham who neatly delivers the modest roles of Joey Biltmore (in particular) and Scranton Slim with panache.
Tracy Collier not only plays General Cartwright but is also Dee’s choreographer and there is both ambition and flair in her take on the two big dance scenes, firstly in the Cuban nightclub and then in the Crapshooters’ Ballet.
Neil Somerville directs his six piece band delightfully, with a nice touch to the evening’s musicality being provided by Pippa D. Collins’s massed choirs adding vocal heft to the occasion. Sorcha Corchoran’s stage designs use the tented setting perfectly.
A newcomer to directing she may be, but as one of the UK's finest leading ladies Janie Dee is steeped in musical theatre genius. In her programme notes Dee pays a neat tribute to Sir Richard Eyre’s groundbreaking and award-winning production of Guys & Dolls in 1982 at the National Theatre. She is right to do so. Hers is the first Guys & Dolls since then that comes close to replicating Eyre’s masterpiece in unlocking the pathos, humanity and hilarity of Damon Runyon’s stories.
Find your way to Frinton. It’s a probable twelve to seven that you’ll have a fantastic night at the theatre!
Runs until 6th September
Photo credit: Christian Davies
