Theatre Review: Guys and Dolls

Guys & Dolls

Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Director Shaun Rennie

Musical Director Guy Simpson

Choreographer Kelley Abbey

Fleet Steps at Mrs Macquaries Point

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP, MAICD

With the proliferation of recent theatrical projects designed to specifically appeal to the LGBTQ community, I was half expecting Sydney’s latest production to be titled “Guys and Guys”.

Guys & Dolls the musical was inspired by Damon Runyon’s short stories about gangsters,  hustlers, gamblers and other New York City characters in the 1920s and 1930s, and it premiered on Broadway in November, 1950.

The latest production has opened at Mrs Macquaries Point on the shores of Sydney Harbour. Everything about it is BIG, from the huge stage, the size of which isn't limited by a building, to the gigantic 1950 New York Yellow Taxi, to the lowering of a pair of massive dice by a construction crane, to the elevated, upstage One Way sign that conceals the 26 piece orchestra, to the cast of 35, to the full fireworks display. 

A small-time hustler is engaged to a night club singer and needs money, so he bets that one of his colleagues won’t be able to convince an attractive, puritanical member of the Salvation Army to go to Havana with him.

On the opening night all eyes were on musician and former elite athlete, Cody Simpson as Sky Masterson, the handsome, smooth-talking gambler. You don’t normally see “musical theatre lead” and “world class swimmer” in the same sentence, but he’s ideally cast and shows that he has the chops for musical theatre.

As Sarah Brown, the other romantic lead, Annie Aitken reminds me a lot of Geraldine Turner with her look and singing voice.

Another stand-out is Bobby Fox as Nathan Detroit. The last time I saw Fox was as Frankie Valli in the Australian stage production of Jersey Boys. 

Miss Adelaide, Nathan’s long-suffering fiancée, is played by Angelina Thomson who makes the most of her featured spots, and Adelaide’s scene with Sarah is one of many highlights.

The role of Big Jule is different in that Doron Chester has been cast, and as Harry the Horse, John Xintavelonis looks and sounds like Curly from The Three Stooges.

In fact, every performer is the outstanding triple threat that they need to be because choreographer Kelley Abbey has them working hard on the big stage.

Couldn't help but to compare this production with the 1986 version that was staged at Her Majesty's Theatre. Angela Ayers and Anthony Warlow were outstanding and memorable as the leads, and as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, the great Ricky May grabbed, embraced and elevated the audience with his rendition-defining, Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat. In this current production, Jason Arrow does Nicely nicely.

On opening night, the welcome to country was extraordinarily lengthy, and I don’t know if it’s done before every performance, which is fine if you like it or don’t mind it being that long.

This Guys & Dolls is a superb, big budget production that goes all-out, and there are weather risks involved with staging it outdoors, but with the expansive backdrop of Sydney Harbour and The Bridge, the experience is entirely worth it, especially if you arrive at an evening performance before sunset.