★★★★★

“Hytner’s production is a thrilling experience full of surprises”

Guys & Dolls has been playing at the Bridge Theatre since March 2023 in Nicholas Hytner’s reimagined production which turns the 1950s Broadway musical into full-on immersive production. Its final cast change before its announced closure in January sees Gina Beck taking over as Sarah Brown, also joined by Michael Simkins as Arvide Abernathy. They join members of the previous cast include Owain Arthur, Timmika Ramsay and Jonathan Andrew Hume, as Nathan Detroit, Miss Adelaide and Nicely-Nicely Johnson, respectively.

If you’re not familiar with the story beyond the parody in The Simpsons, it follows Nathan Detroit’s illegal floating crap game, which he hides from financée of 14 years Miss Adelaide. When Detroit places a bet with gambler Sky Masterson that he must take a woman of Detroit’s choosing to Havana, Masterson (George Ioannides) has to try and impress leader of the Save-a-Soul mission, Sarah Brown. What follows is two side-by-side relationship stories alongside visits to the Hotbox nightclub where Adelaide performs.

Hytner’s production is a thrilling experience full of surprises. Half the audience are stood on and around Bunny Christie’s set which sees stage pieces rise and fall for scenes to be played on before the action quickly moves somewhere else. The work of the stage management team in this production is a feat in itself, as they usher audiences around the moving set pieces, bringing on street lamps, staircases, and even at one moment managing to catch the underwear thrown offstage by the Hotbox dancers.

Having seen the original cast, the newcomers have a lot to live up to, and they absolutely make this show and the roles their own. Ramsay is electric as Miss Adelaide. With expansive vocals, she tears the stage apart with “A Bushel and a Peck”, in a number which is sexy, playful, and shows off a star performance. She brings great comedy to “Adelaide’s Lament” and the rapport with co-star Arthur is sharp and fiery, particularly in their second act duet “Sue Me”, which plays the line between lust and frustration to perfection.

Gina Beck follows previous leading lady roles, including Glinda in Wicked and, more recently, Maria in Chichester’s production of The Sound of Music last year. She is very held together as Sarah Brown before letting her hair down and spinning around lamp posts in “If I Were a Bell”, thanks to Arlene Phillips and James Cousin’s choreography. Her voice has gorgeous, crystal-clear operatic tones. She plays against Ioannides, who also returns to the show, and their verision of “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” is a total delight. Likewise, Simkins’ rendition of “More I Cannot Wish You”, which he sings to Beck, has a real sense of warmth and wisdom which is very touching.

The best number of the show though is saved for Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and is perhaps the best known number “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat”. Quite hilariously, the number serves very little plot purpose, other than being a distraction so the General doesn’t cotton on to schemes of the crap game players. Cedric Neal received an Olivier Award nomination for originating this role, so again big boots to fill. Hume is fantastic. His Nicely-Nicely is warm, engaging and a little bit cheeky and he looks like he’s having the absolute time of his life performing this number, which in turn lets the audience have a great time as well. The crowd cheer as he encourages the orchestra to give him an encore and the whole room gets involved clapping along.

If you’re going to revive a 70-year-old musical which is, let’s be honest, rather dated in its plot, then this is the way to do it. It never tries to say ‘this is now’ but instead unapologetically transports us to a different time altogether and gives us an evening of thorough entertainment.

Guys & Dolls plays at the Bridge until January so if you haven’t yet made it along to this 5-Star production make sure that you do. There’s nothing else quite like it!

HELLO, DOLLY! at the London Palladium

★★★★

“Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival”

By interval, while slowly making my way through the bottleneck towards the bar, I’m feeling a bit like the child from ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ folk tale. Only the joke is on me, apparently, rather than the other way round. It takes the second act to make me realise this, and my puzzled expression turns to one of realisation, all the while a smile reluctantly spreading across my face. The belated appreciation is inadvertently symptomatic of a musical that is, after all, fundamentally about second chances.

You have to ignore the flimsy plot to get to its heart. On the surface the story follows the celebrated matchmaker, Dolly Levi, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly half-millionaire Horace Vandergelder. It soon becomes clear, though, that Dolly intends to marry Horace herself. We think it’s all about the money, but as the twists unravel, we discover the true threads of the tale. Love is in the air, ultimately, conquering feelings of grief and bereavement as it sweeps through the auditorium in waves of feelgood farce. In the title role, Imelda Staunton gives a fantastically understated performance as she slowly lets go of her late husband’s ghost to find her way back to where she belongs.

Based on Thornton Wilder’s 1930s ‘The Matchmaker’, it premiered in 1963; so there is always the danger that today’s audiences will find it outdated and out of style. Yet it conveys a bygone age that we are willing to be transported back to. Escapism is the key. Rae Smith’s sumptuous sets mix turn of the century realism with animated backdrops; rickety trolleybuses and sandstone buildings with blue skies – into which, at one point, a full-size steam train billows out clouds of steam. Smith’s costumes match the opulence of the production, particularly during the signature scene in which Dolly descends the famous staircase of the Harmonia Gardens restaurant. The title number of ‘Hello Dolly’ builds slowly towards its ovation-grabbing finale. Dancing waiters and chefs epitomise Bill Deamer’s extravagant and flawless choreography. Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival, except for a few lines of Michael Stewart’s book. Yet the execution is faultless, and Jerry Herman’s music and lyrics are given full flight, buoyed up by the twenty strong orchestra down in the pit.

Staunton, to her credit, never steals the show in what is pretty much an ensemble piece (that also boasts one of the largest ensembles in London – it has more swings than a holiday camp playground). Andy Nyman’s Horace Vandergelder is a gently mocking Scrooge, extending his derision to himself as much as anyone else. His rebellious employees, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker (respectively Harry Hepple and the underused Tyrone Huntley) make a fine comedy double act that borders on cliché but thankfully just stops short. The other star turn comes courtesy of Jenna Russell’s Irene Molloy, the milliner who craves to swap her hat shop for a love nest yet is more than twice shy having been bitten by grief too many times.

The songs are not so much old fashioned as old school. Refreshingly nostalgic and timeless. Russell delivers one of the highlights; ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ with an aching hunger while some of the other rousing numbers fill us with joy. Staunton, of course, makes ‘Hello Dolly’ (the song and the show) her own, betraying a unique sense of self-doubt within her layered character. She likes to be in control of everybody’s lives, including her own, but her femininity is never victim to her feminism. There is strength and vulnerability. But also a glorious sense of fun. “It’s no use arguing – I have made up your mind” Dolly says to the redemptive Vandergelder.

There is no arguing with the success of this show either, or the ovation it received. Admittedly the first act drifts a bit, but by curtain call it is well and truly ‘back where it belongs’.

Tag Archives: Manuel Harlan

GUYS & DOLLS

★★★★★

Bridge Theatre

GUYS & DOLLS at the Bridge Theatre

★★★★★

“Hytner’s production is a thrilling experience full of surprises”

GUYS & DOLLS at the Bridge Theatre

Reviewed on 9th September 2024

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GUYS & DOLLS | ★★★★★ | March 2024

Guys

Guys

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

HELLO, DOLLY!

★★★★

London Palladium

HELLO, DOLLY! at the London Palladium

★★★★

“Nothing seems out of place in Dominic Cooke’s staging of this revival”