Guys and Dolls

The decision to see Guys & Dolls was a very last minute one. We bought the tickets about an hour before the performance simply because we wanted to see a show, it wasn’t something we had thought about in advance, perhaps that’s for the best. Guys & Dolls was a show that I forgot was still on in the West End but naturally I was intrigued to see it. Before even entering the Phoenix Theatre to watch the show, I was vexed to hear that the show will be closing 4 months in advance because popular Australian actress Rebel Wilson who plays Miss Adelaide, is unable to finish her run and there’s no one to replace her… Seriously? There’s no one in the entirety of the London theatre industry that can sing “A person can develop a cold”, there's not even an understudy? That’s accastupid! Nevertheless, I decided to put my anger aside. The show got off to a rousing start with a great overture and effective set, with projections of different areas of New York and advertisements, similar to those in Times square. There was also great lighting and costumes and a lively dance number to open the show. It was at this point that I noticed one of my former dance teachers Genevieve Nicole in the ensemble, she was brilliant. As far as the story goes, it wasn’t really that exciting, to put it quickly, Nathan Detroit a handsome young New Yorker is in charge of a secret crap game and is running out of places to hold it because all of his previous locations have been discovered. The place that he finds is available only if he provides the right guy with the right amount of money which he doesn’t have so, he makes a plan. He decides to make a deal with betting mastermind Sky Masterson. Nathan bets that Sky will be unable to ask local missionary girl Sarah Brown, to go with him to Cuba for dinner in one day. If Sky fails, he will have to give Nathan the money that he needs to put on the crap game, and (spoiler) it fails because Sky manages to win Sarah over. As for Nathan’s fiance Miss Adelaide she’s sick of waiting for her white wedding to happen and is convinced that the stress of being engaged for years and never marrying makes her sick and gives her the flu, she also hates Nathan’s crap game because she thinks its dishonest. To cut the story short, things turn out well. Nathan gets his crap game (in the local sewer), Adelaide gets her wedding , Sarah falls in love with Sky and Sky proves to Sarah that he is a man of his word, and everything’s happy. That’s it. In terms of acting I was impressed, the actors playing Sky and Nathan and the rest of their cronies were excellent and all had a very convincing character, the same can be said for the female ensemble. Sarah Brown for the most part was sickly sweet and rather unbearable (apart from when she was in Cuba, she was great then) which in my eyes means the actress playing her was spot on. The characters Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet, provided a comedy element with their wit and lighthearted songs and were also very well played. Then there was Miss Adelaide. Watching Rebel Wilson prance about on stage felt more like watching Honey-Boo boo the musical, than the musical I was supposed to be watching, her performance was average quote frankly I would’ve preferred to watch her mermaid dance than play Miss Adelaide. However, her singing was actually very good much to my surprise and she did display some acting skills and in some moments I did feel sorry for her and even laugh, some being the key word here. The soundtrack had its stand out songs such as Luck be a lady, Adelaide’s Lament, If I were a bell and Sit down you’re rocking the boat. I was excited to hear all of these songs and thought they were all performed brilliantly yes even Adelaide’s Lament. The rest of the score made no impression on me. I can’t say that I would’ve enjoyed the performance more had there been a Laine graduate playing Adelaide, because the show didn’t leave a big enough impression on me anyway, but it would have made the performance much better if there was, in my opinion. For me the best thing about the show was the lively and clever choreography by Carlos Acosta. Every single dance number in the show was choreographed to perfection with brave and creative steps. The high energy Samba style dance in Cuba was absolutely fantastic, no faults there whatsoever. Overall I thought the show was good. I think it’s a great shame that it has to close so early, but I wouldn’t see it again.

So I knew going into this show I wasn't a huge fan but yes I wanted to see Rebel Wilson take on the role of Miss Adelaide. I had seen the show before with Lousie Dearman in the role and I must say I preferred Louise. Rebel was funny but I didn't feel the same connection with the character. Anyway, I thought the performance was good, the set is bright and light and works well, the staging is well done and the actors did a great job, I just don't think this show is for me. Its strange because I actually enjoy the music and the plot is OK, I just don't connect with it all when it comes together. Maybe it didn't help that where I was sat all I could see was rows of people filming Rebel Wilson with ushers running in and out, it did disrupt the performance for me as it was distracting and by the second act it seemed like the theatre staff had given in and we where subject to watching the performance behind a sea of camera screens.

We saw the last performance of the production with Samantha Spiro playing Miss Adelaide who was brilliant in the part and played her character with great subtlety, restraint and well-placed humour and was in total keeping with the show. This was the total opposite to Rebel Wilson's vulgar, crass and contemporary pantomime mis-interpretation of Miss Adelaide that stood out like a sore thumb and totally out of keeping with the whole production.

We saw the last performance of the production with Samantha Spiro playing Miss Adelaide who was brilliant in the part and played her character with great subtlety, restraint and well-placed humour and was in total keeping with the show. This was the total opposite to Rebel Wilson's vulgar, crass and contemporary pantomime mis-interpretation of Miss Adelaide that stood out like a sore thumb and totally out of keeping with the whole production.

We saw the last performance of the production with Samantha Spiro playing Miss Adelaide who was brilliant in the part and played her character with great subtlety, restraint and well-placed humour and was in total keeping with the show. This was the total opposite to Rebel Wilson's vulgar, crass and contemporary pantomime mis-interpretation of Miss Adelaide that stood out like a sore thumb and totally out of keeping with the whole production.

I was not familiar with this show, but thought the story was great and very easy to follow. The first 20 minutes were fairly slow and the vocals were a bit disappointing, but after everything had got going there were some really great performances. This was Rebel Wilson's 4th performance, and she was unexpectedly brilliant - she obviously made the role her own and was absolutely hilarious and a surprisingly good singing voice too! If you can see this show while she is in it I'd definitely recommend it!

I have seen this production of Guys and Dolls twice from the same seat and it was great both times. I mainly went to see the show for the actors, Rebel Wilson, Simon Lipkin and Oliver Tompsett. Having originally seen the show in a different production and enjoying; I knew seeing it with some of my favourite actors in it would not disappoint. The show, although not my favourite, is wonderful and cheery. A must-see show if you ever have the opportunity.

Show is funny, great cast who were bright and dynamic and must mention the wonderful orchestra. Highlights were Nathan Detroit and nicely nicely Johnson whose performances were outstanding. Songs very good and choreography excellent. Hard to hear clear lyrics and some of the dialogue from a few cast sometimes particularly Rebel Wilson who was Adelaide but really enjoyable nevertheless.

Saw this at the Savoy and was lucky enough to be in the front row of the Stalls, so worried that we may have lost some of the intimacy being in the Upper Circle. However, even though we were up quite high, you could still see the facial expressions of the actors. Everyone was superb again - Rebel Wilson was a delightful surprise!