Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls Capitol Theatre, March 16-May 14, 2009; Ticketmaster.com.au
Donmar is a tag that has come to mean something special in the theatrical (revival) business. The London-based not-for-profit theatre has developed, over the past decade or so, to spill out of its Covent Garden warehouse origins to the West End and overseas. Much of that impetus is down to the galvanizing effect of artistic director Sam Mendes (whose reworking of Cabaret was seen here) and now, his successor, Michael Grandage.
In partnership with West End impresario Howard Panter and his Ambassador Group, Grandage is responsible for this Noughties version of Guys and Dolls. Post-the London run, a high calibre Australian cast was assembled under re-staging director Jamie Lloyd. As well as a terrific company of singing dancers, the box office names are Marina Prior, Lisa McCune, Magda Szubanski, Garry McDonald, Ian Stenlake and an unlikely scene-stealer in Shane Jacobson. The show had a hugely successful run in Melbourne last year and that same solid gold cast is now at the Capitol in Sydney for a snappy and sensible 12-weeks. (Get your tickets now guys and goils, kiss it or miss it.)
In an interview published in the program Grandage explains how he came to re-think the visual aspect of the 1950 Broadway classic. Over the years, he said, it had been made colourful and cartoon-like, he wanted to take it back to its origins. And he’s right; the characters had become caricatures – closer to Popeye and Olive Oyl than the mean streets of Damon Runyon’s New York.
The costumes lead straight into that thinking: snap brim fedoras, snappy suits and co-respondent shoes, Marcel waves and frocks, most in muted tones with the odd flash of gangster sass. The original stage design, by Christopher Oram, is spare and uncluttered, suggesting the small hours of the morning New York streets, bars, mission hall and crap shoot venues. They’re atmospherically sketched and much is done with lighting (designer Howard Harrison) and sound (a bit muddy for some individuals, nevertheless). It leaves the stage for the performers, however, and this is not a production where the set demands a standing ovation – but the cast did.
The Sydney opening night audience was curiously subdued though, which was a little odd. Maybe the usual rent-a-whoop mob hadn’t been invited – they were notable by their absence. What they missed was one of the evergreens of musical theatre, but one that is more a play with music (and several indelible songs) rather than an out-and-out musical. The result is a rich script – rather than book – where every line propels the action and characters forward and there isn’t a hint of padding. It’s a piece that is worth study by anyone wondering why so many modern musicals are such tooth-ache – music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.
The story is, of course, based on a couple of short stories by Damon Runyon and concerns the love life of inveterate gambler Nathan Detroit (McDonald) and his fiancée of 14 years, burlesque star Miss Adelaide (Prior). Detroit is desperate to (a) find a venue for his illegal craps game and make some dough and (b) stall Adelaide’s plans for matrimony. Along comes the chance of (a) when apparently irresistible Sky Masterson (Stenlake) takes up a bet to make the next woman they see fall for him.
At this opportune moment around the corners marches a mission band of soul-savers led by Sergeant Sarah Brown (McCune). She is as stitched up as she is gorgeous and Nathan reckons his bet is as good as won. He heads off to pay the rent on his game venue and any idea of (b) goes right out the window.
Unfortunately for the hapless Detroit, a Chicago gangster has come to town for the promised game. Big Jule (Szubanski) is packing heat, a pencil moustache and some seriously mean attitude. It’s a cameo that Szubanski obviously relishes but the rasping bellow of the underworld boss must play havoc with her vocal cords!
Among the ensemble of hangers-on, hoofers, gofers and minor crims is Nicely Nicely Johnson (Jacobson) who leads the pack for the show-stopping “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat”. It’s a scene that owes much to the company and choreographer Rob Ashford and is rivalled only by the first half’s “Havana” sequence.
When Sky manages to sweep Sarah Brown off to Cuba for dinner (!) it cues a remarkable piece of writing and performance. Set in a Havana nitery, Sky entices teetotal Sarah to discover the pleasures of Bacardi. She then discovers the rumba and flirtation in quick succession. McCune perfectly judges her gradual descent into inebriated dishevelment even though it’s played out as an extended ensemble dance sequence.
McCune and Prior are well cast to play opposite each other and bring a tricky mix of poignancy and humour to their roles, particularly when commiserating over the impossibility of tying down their men. Guys and Dolls is an intriguing piece. It was written for and successful in the 1950s, when post-war white picket fence society was at the opposite end of the spectrum from the 1930s. Then, the Depression, Prohibition and crime glamorously ruled the streets of America’s biggest cities and it was a society on the edge of anarchy. Yet, as ordinary men and women settled back into comfortable, uneventful lives, at the same time they flocked to Broadway and the West End to enjoy just the opposite.
Now the pendulum has swung, or the wheel has turned (take your pick), and America is again in the throes of social upheaval and pain and men and women are still trying to negotiate their relationships. And we’re still relying on luck! The more things change etc.
