A musical delight that aims for the Sky
Guys & Dolls is usually a big show under a proscenium arch. What a joy, therefore, to get up close and personal with Frank Loesser’s musical about gamblers, showgirls and the Salvation Army in 1950s New York.
One of the effects of this ebullient, pocketsized staging at the bijou theatrical powerhouse outside of Reading is that it draws you into its emotional core.
I was even quite touched by slick Sky Masterson’s attempt to woo the Sally Army’s teetotal evangelist Sarah.
But let’s face it: no one looks to Guys & Dolls for emotional truth, and I am happy to report that Joseph Pitcher’s production lacks none of the show’s usual swagger.
With a company of 15 pulling big dance moves on the small stage, there’s a danger of displacing dentures in the front row. But the choreography flies freely through the tango in Havana and delivers an Old Testament-sized hoe-down for the big rowdy classic, Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat. Charlie Ingles’s arrangements for a five-piece band miraculously retain the scale and joie de vivre of an orchestra.
Richard Carson as Sky makes a good rangy leading guy and Victoria Serra as leading doll Sarah loosens up nicely for the cat fight in Cuba. Natalie Hope has huge fun as bimbo showgirl Miss Adelaide, while Stephane Anelli is a loveable rogue as fixer Nathan Detroit. All of which makes this joyful little production a very safe bet. IN South London there’s another musical revival that benefits from a shrink fit — Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects Of Love. The complicated 1989 musical is not one of his A-listers. However, Jonathan O’Boyle’s revival makes the show feel a good deal warmer. It’s easier to empathise with Kelly Price as lovestruck actress Rose; Jerome Pradon, as the hedonistic uncle, seems less remote and Felix Mosse more vulnerable as earnest loverboy Alex. My advice is to ignore the dodgy plot and wallow in Lloyd Webber’s lush music.