Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is a very dated musical and in this productions feels as though it has gone well beyond its use-by date. A quintessential American musical, or more specifically a Broadway one, it was written 64 years ago when people were still reading Damon Runyon. At the time Frank Loesser’s adaptation of the characters was considered brilliant, but times change and what was considered a classic yesterday, today seems merely tired and old-fashioned.

The show was never produced in Australia back when it was written in the fifties because Australian producers considered it too full of product names and places to mean anything to Australians. Sixty-four years later they still don’t. Added to that is the fact that you have to wait until nearly the end of the show to get a rousing showstopper (“Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat”). The movie’s score was better in that it ditched “I’ve Never Been In Love Before” and replaced it with the much better “A Woman In Love” which at the time became a gigantic hit. Unfortunately it’s not in this production.

Ian Stenlake as Sky Masterson has charisma galore but very little opportunity to use it, and the moments when he could let his great baritone rip were few and far between. Angela Harding (Sarah Brown) is a leading lady with a thin reedy soprano which was not helped by the sound system echo making it sound more metallic than it was. Wayne Scott Kermond, not a choice that readily springs to mind for Nathan Detroit, acquitted himself really well, giving one of the best performances on the night, likewise Liz Buchanan, who delivered an impressive Hot Box girl Adelaide. Daryl Somers in a padded suit brought as much of his schtick as was possible to Nicely Nicely Johnson and led the cast in the rousing “Rockin’ the Boat” number, capped off with a reveal of his previously hidden tap-dancing talent. Dale Pengally was terrific as Benny Southstreet, while Steven Tandy milked his nostalgic moment as Arvide Abernathy singing “More I Cannot Wish You.” Belina Heit’s General Cartwright went for the easy laughs of caricature.

The male chorus, dressed in ill-fitted garishly coloured costumes were snappy, which is more than can be said for Tim O’Connor’s dull direction. Choreography by George Canham was by-the-numbers. Not that it was bad, it’s just that we’ve seen it all before – a leggy girls chorus-line and a Latin dance that had no fire. In fact that observation could apply to the whole show. It lacked sizzle. With last year’s Oklahoma! Harvest Rain took a giant step forward into the professional arena. With Guys and Dolls they’ve gone back to square one.

Peter Pinne