Guys And Dolls

Riverside Theatre, Woodbridge

15th to 22nd June 2002

 

   

 

Our production

Directed by David Caddick : Choreography by Helen Spall

Produced by Don Spall : Musical Director - John Craggs

Production Designer - David Wright

 

 

The full cast was:-

Nathan Detroit - Steve Pack

Miss Adelaide - Colette Clark

Sky Masterson - Julian Illman

Sarah Brown - Kathryn Bryant

Nicely-Nicely Johnson - Simon Hoyle

Benny Southstreet - Carl Clark

Arvide Abernathy - Geoff Jacobs

Harry the Horse - Simeon Fulcher

Big Jule - Oliver Fosker

Lt Brannigan - Henry Tebbutt

General Cartwright - Jo Durrant

Rusty Charlie - David Hubbick

Agatha - Debbie Osborne

Martha - Louise Clarke

Joey Biltmore - Vernon Burrows

Principal Havana Dancers - Karen Hadgraft & Darren Scriven

 

Hot Box Dancers

Sophie Dawes, Karen Hadgraft, Hannah Maile, Helen Spall

Carolyn Talbot, Sally Topple, Suzanne Wilding, Sharon Wright

 

The Guys

Dave Atkins, Bob Boosey, Vernon Burrows, David Hubbick

Gareth Jones, Daniel O'Neill, Darren Scriven

 

The Dolls

Debra Boggis, Julie Howes, Shirley Hubbick

Maria Keeley, Kelly Parish, Louise Peck

                                                                                                                                           

 

What the press said

FOUR TAKE A TASTY BITE OUT OF BIG APPLE

    Loesser and Runyon's classic Broadway show is a show of many scenes.

    The action flits from New York to Havana, from the sweaty, grasping crap-shooters and the crusaders of the Save-A-Soul Mission, who try in vain to clean up the sinful ways of these New York lo-life gambles.

    It's technically very hard to stage. Changing the sturdy, life-like sets so frequently tended to interrupt the furious pace at which New Yorkers need to live their lives in this 1940s morality tale.

    But if the tempo of the production sagged a little that's the just nature of the logistics of this ambitious musical in which the performers in all other areas made a fair stab.

    Steve Pack as Nathan Detroit shone as the wheelin' dealin' organiser of the illegal crap games. His New York accent held the firmest among the cast but consistency matters little, I suppose, in the cultural melting pot of nationalities in the Big Apple. He was ably assisted by the comically turned Carl Clark as Benny Southstreet and Simon Hoyle as compulsively eating Nicely-Nicely Johnson.

    Detroit's broad, Miss Adelaide, showed reasons why he kept her at arms length as his fiance of 14 years. Yet brash and brassy Colette Clark was a star.

    Julian Illman as husky-voiced Sky Masterson was a brooding male lead who wooed Kathryn Bryant's missionary Sarah Brown with a domineering swagger.

    The Company of Four offered us some great odds for a very pleasing evening.

James Fraser, Evening Star, 20th June 2002