Guys and Dolls – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Music and Lyrics: Frank Loesser

Book: Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Artistic Director: David McNeill

Musical Director: Simon Hanson

Choreographer: Geoff Steers

Reviewer: Helen Jones

The Public Reviews Rating:

Stage Experience have auditioned and cast one hundred young people between the ages of ten and twenty one, then given them ten days to rehearse before appearing before the audience at the Palace Theatre in Frank Loesser’s musical Guys and Dolls. Amazingly, it works brilliantly.

Loesser’s famous musical, based on the stories of Damon Runyon, is set in the seedy side of New York in 1950 and tells of the romances of two couples. Miss Sarah Brown helps run the local Save Your Souls mission, Miss Adelaide is the star of the local revue, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson are gamblers. The score is filled with some of Loesser’s most well-known songs including Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat and Luck Be A Lady.

This cast of youngsters shows real talent and includes several potential stars of professional musical theatre; in fact a couple of them are already working professionally. Rebecca Lake’s delicate looking Sarah Brown is sweet voiced but truly shows her acting ability and timing during the scene in Havana where Sarah is under the influence of rather a lot of rum. Fifteen years old Ryan Hunt, while still looking much too young to be a convincing grandfather, is confident in his role and shows a beautiful singing voice in his one solo number.

Ben Davies is a charismatic Sky Masterson but somehow just lacks that ability to convince me he’s a hardened gambler. However, he gives a skilled performance which is engaging to watch.

Mark Bayliss as Nathan Detroit has that gambling-addicted look down to a fine art. Combined with his accomplished acting and a stunning singing voice, Bayliss makes himself a real star of the show. Thankfully Mollie Melia-Redgrave’s Miss Adelaide is the perfect foil for him. Brassy, blowsy and completely over the top in both voice and style, this Miss Adelaide is funny yet still creates the pathos necessary. Miss Melia-Redgrave must also be praised for somehow managing to maintain that accent even when singing – not an easy thing to do. This young actress deserves a starry future.

However the entire show is stolen by two small cheeky characters, Thomas Mills as Harry the Horse and George Vaccari as Big Jule. Both have huge characters and equally huge talent despite their stature. Mills especially shines and has a confidence that exudes and embraces the audience. The audience love him and while Harry isn’t the largest of roles Mills makes every second count.

The ensemble cast sing and dance their way through Loesser’s songs with obvious enjoyment, and while they might not have the slickness of a major production, they are still better than some professional shows I’ve seen.

Considering the ages of these performers and the fact that they have only had ten days rehearsal, this was a real pleasure to watch. Stage Experience, director David McNeill, musical director Simon Hanson and choreographer Geoff Steers have drawn an amazing degree of skill and sheer talent into a show that could take on the major players at their own game.

Luck definitely was a lady last night and these young people deserve every moment of it.