Alex Young and Natalie Casey in Guys and Dolls at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Picture: Johan Persson
Guys and Dolls continues at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until 18 January 2020.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Could the fedora make a comeback? It’s not impossible. After all, who would have predicted the ubiquity of the beard three years ago?
If it does come to pass, Robert Hastie’s production of Guys and Dolls could well be cited as the flashpoint for revival. Not only are fedora’s an icon of mid-20th century America, they also add a touch of elegance to the excellent ensemble work in this show.
In fact, it is the set pieces, such as ‘Havana’ and ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’, that, with one major exception, do the heavy entertainment lifting.
Star of the show is undoubtedly Natalie Casey as Miss Adelaide. Her comic gifts are considerable. Of course, songs such as ‘Adelaide’s Lament’ and ‘Take Back Your Mink’, with their astonishingly witty lyrics, are a gift, but it still requires an actor of real talent to carve out a distinctive performance after so many others have gone before. Not a note passes without registering somewhere on her face or body.
Martin Marquez’s Nathan Detroit supports Adelaide and is wise enough to know just how much space to give her in order to maximise her effect. Clearly, Hastie made the decision to give Nathan and Adelaide equal prominence.
The problem for me is, despite Sky Masterson’s (Kadiff Kirwan) assertion that it’ll be through ‘chemistry’ that he will find the right woman, there seems to be little of it between him and Sarah Brown (Alex Young). He is suave and handsome and gives a good account of ‘Luck Be a Lady’, but his voice is sometimes a little difficult to hear against an over-enthusiastic brass section.
Young’s soprano occasionally thrills, but I feel no development in her relationship with Masterson. They seem as arm’s-length at the finale as they had been at the beginning.
Janet Bird’s versatile set nicely reflects the bustling street life of New York and hints at musicians plying their trade in brownstone lofts. She also employs the rotating stage with restraint: it must be so tempting to use those multiple revolving sections at every opportunity.
The first indication of the flexibility of the set comes as the show opens with ‘Fugue for Tinhorns’, which is where we get our first sight of TJ Lloyd as Nicely Nicely Johnson. Perhaps it was his resemblance to Stubby Kaye that made me immediately think ‘he is right for the part’, but Lloyd’s tenor fits perfectly into ensemble pieces and he leads ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’ with panache.
Matt Flint’s choreography makes full use of the athleticism of the ensemble and injects just enough sleaze into ‘Take Back Your Mink’ to signal to a modern audience that what may have been the norm then, is unacceptable now.
As we have come to expect from Hastie, direction is tight and inventive, although I felt a drunken Santa drifting on and off stage to be a gratuitous addition. He has created a thoroughly entertaining evening in the theatre with Casey alone worth the price of a ticket.
Mike Tilling
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