This would be a wonderful way to get children to drink milk

The latest in a (this year, not so) occasional series of musical reviews...

Guys & Dolls : The Bridge Theatre

Another musical - that's four this year! I blame this one on the lovely Mrs Reed though - she didn't exactly drag me kicking and screaming to it, but I doubt I'd have gone and seen it on my own. I'd also say that the joyful experience of 90 minutes in the dentists chair earlier in the day also hadn't exactly improved my mood, but at least I knew isn't wasn't exactly mentally taxing because the we'd seen it in all the way back in 2005 featuring Ewan McGregor and Jane Krakowski - I remembered it being fun, but not exactly memorable. 

As we walk into the theatre, it's obviously being staged in the round but there's no obvious stage and a load of the audience milling about where a stage might be, so it's not entire clear where the action is going to take place - funnily enough, all becomes clearer quite quickly, but more on this later.

The show is definitely not too mentally challenging but it was a fun night out and lightened my mood (alongside a few doses of Paracetamol). It did, however, drive home that Guys & Dolls isn't the greatest musical - the plot is very sketchy and, with the exception of "Luck Be A Lady" and "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat", the songs are fine but pretty forgettable. However, I definitely have to say that the director (Nicholas Hytner), choreographer (Arlene Philips) and cast (lots of 'em - there must be about twenty) play the cards they're dealt well and definitely elevate the core material.

There are four main roles - Sky Masterson (George Ioannides) and Sister Sarah Brown (Celinde Schoemaker) are the "will they, won't they?" couple and Nathan Detroit (Owain Arthur) and Miss Adelaide (Timmika Ramsay) are the "why does she put up with him?" couple ahd they all do a good job, with George and (particularly) Timmika being the stand-outs for me. Other shout-outs go to Jonathan Andrew Hume who, as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, gets to lead "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat" and does so well and, whilst Cameron Johnson doesn't do a lot as Big Julie, he does have the most AMAZINGLY deep voice. It's one of those musicals though where the whole cast gets to sing and dance and they all do their job well with some excellent harmonies as they throw themselves around the stage - Timmika gets another shout out here for having an excellent voice and being able to sing at a million words per minute.

What particularly raises the bar here though is the staging - as discussed earlier it takes place in the round and the reason we couldn't initially see a stage was that it rises up (and sinks back down) as required. This involves an awful lot of co-ordination of props and steps - there are a load of stagehands involved with careful timing required to make things work. 

However, as if that's not complex enough, there is also a standing component to the audience who can rove around whatever isn't the stage at any moment in time - so if they're standing where a stage is about to appear, then they need to be shepherded away (which I imagine could be an absolute nightmare at times, but everyone was very well behaved on the night for us). Additionally, during the interval and at the start of the second half, some "lucky" members of the audience get to sit on the stage - I say "lucky" because the potential for embarrassment is quite high, but it seems like plenty of warning was provided (and plenty turned it down!).

The presence of all those people either close to or on the stage greatly enhances the effect of the crowd scenes (generally set in clubs) - we were sitting in the first row of the stalls which was approximately at head height and it worked really well for us. I imagine it was incredibly immersive for those people standing - there were quite a few younger girls who were LOVING stand next to the stage and looking up at the cast. It was also interesting that some of those standing chose to stay in the one place but others took the opportunity to move about to gain different perspectives - in a lot of ways it was more like a concert experience than the normal theatre experience and it's to the show's credit that they haven't tried to squeeze too many people in there, so moving about is perfectly possible.

I'd not been to The Bridge Theatre beforehand and I was impressed - it's a smart area with comfy seats and good visibility (although obviously I had much nicer seats than I normally do because I was with my wife). It also has a nice foyer area with plenty of room for milling about - the bar had surprisingly reasonably priced beer alongside surprisingly expensive sandwiches.

I thought this was a very enjoyable evening, but it's more the case of an excellent staging of some perfectly fine content. On a pure content level, it's enjoyable and it's definitely elevated by the talent involved. But if you're interested in theatrical staging and how the old can be made new, then get yourself a standing ticket and take a look at what's been done here - it's really very impressive.  However, don't expect to be coming away singing anything other than "sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down you're rocking the boat".

Hadestown