Chichester's GUYS AND DOLLS Moves to the West End Tonight

The highly acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival of GUYS AND DOLLS, begins tonight, December 10, at the Savoy Theatre in the West End.

Joining Sophie Thompson as Miss Adelaide and Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson, are David Haig as Nathan Detroit and Siubhan Harrison as Sarah Brown. GUYS AND DOLLS will see Sophie Thompson and David Haig perform together for the first time since their comic pairing as bride and groom, Lydia and Bernard, in the British smash hit film, Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Nathan Detroit (David Haig) is desperate: he needs money for an illegal dice game, and he needs it fast. Not to mention a 14-year engagement with nightclub singer Miss Adelaide (Sophie Thompson), whose patience is finally running out. Enter notorious gambler Sky Masterson (Jamie Parker), a guy who can never turn down a bet, and straight-laced missionarySarah Brown (Siubhan Harrison), a doll with a heart of ice. Nathan's wager is that Sky has to romance Sarah by taking her to Havana for dinner and in return he'll provide a dozen 'sinners' for Sarah's mission. Surely this is one bet Nathan absolutely can't lose?

A joyous and vibrant celebration of Prohibition-era New York, GUYS AND DOLLS first premiered on Broadway in 1950 and captured the optimism and energy of post-World War Two America. This hugely popular and multi award-winning musical, based on the colourful stories by American journalist Damon Runyon renowned for his vivid fictional depictions of the gamblers, hustlers and nightclub singers of New York, features some of Broadway's greatest musical numbers including 'My Time of Day', 'Luck be a Lady' and the show-stopping 'Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat'. GUYS AND DOLLS is directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Cuban dancer and former Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta and Andrew Wright, whose credits include Chichester Festival Theatre's Singin' in the Rain.

Sophie Thompson plays Miss Adelaide. Theatre credits include The Physicists (Donmar), She Stoops To Conquer(National Theatre), Clybourne Park (Royal Court), Measure for Measure(Shakespeare's Globe), Into the Woods(Donmar Warehouse) for which she received an Olivier Award, and Company (Donmar Warehouse and West End). Television credits includeLightfields, Watson and Oliver, Poirot, Doc Martin, Big Top, and Stella Crawford inEastEnders. Film credits include Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Eat, Pray, Love, Fat Slags, Nicholas Nickleby, Gosford Park, Dancing at Lughnasa, Emma and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

David Haig plays Nathan Detroit. David is currently in Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at Chichester Festival Theatrewhere previous credits include Pressure (a co-production with Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh) and Yes, Prime Minister, which transferred to the West End. Other theatre credits include The Madness of George III (Theatre Royal Bath and West End),Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), Hitchcock Blonde (Royal Court and West End), Houseand Garden (National Theatre), Art (Wyndham's and Broadway), and Our Country's Good at the Royal Court, for which David won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. Television credits include The Thick Of It, MO, The 39 Steps, My Boy Jack, Talking Heads and The Thin Blue Line.Film credits include Florence Foster Jenkins and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Jamie Parker plays Sky Masterson. Jamie was seen most recently as Mike Connor in High Society at The Old Vic. Other theatre credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead(Chichester and West End), Proof (Menier Chocolate Factory), Henry V, Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part 2, As You Like Like It (all for Shakespeare's Globe),Racing Demon (Sheffield Crucible), Revenger's Tragedy (National Theatre) and The History Boys (National Theatre, Broadway and Australia and Hong Kong). Television credits include Parade's End, Silk, The Hour, Silent Witness andWire in the Blood. Film credits include Le Weekend, Valkyrie and The History Boys.

Siubhan Harrison plays Sarah Brown. Theatre credits include Pitcairn (Out of Joint/Shakespeare's Globe/Chichester), From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), Earthquakes in London(Headlong and National Theatre), Grease (Piccadilly Theatre), Bad Girls The Musical (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and We Will Rock You(Dominion).

Completing the cast are Lucy Jane Adcock, Abigail Brodie, Cornelius Clarke, Momar Diagne, Lavinia Fitzpatrick, Lorna Gale, Nic Greenshields, Selina Hamilton, Ian Hughes, Frankie Jenna, Jacob Maynard, Neil McCaul, Genevieve Nicole, William Oxborrow, Max Parker, Carl Patrick, James Revell, Giovanni Spano, Gavin Spokes, Jonathan Stewart, Lucie Mae Sumner and Liam Wrate.

Director Gordon Greenberg has directed plays and musicals at major theatres across America and Europe, as well as writing for television and theatre. Current writing projects includeScramble Band, an original movie for the Disney Channel, the stage adaptation of Tangled for Disney, and The Single Girl's Guide, a new musical updating Jane Austen's Emma to 1964, as well as directing The Heart of Rock And Roll, the new Huey Lewis musical, creating the new Frank Loesser dance musical Luck Be A Lady, and adapting and directing Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn and The Secret of My Success for Universal Pictures Stage Productions. Previous directing credits include the Drama Desk Award-winning New York revival of Studs Terkel's Working,and the acclaimed New York revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well..., which received Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Award nominations. Recent credits include Pirates! Or Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder'd (created with Nell Benjamin), Johnny Baseball for Williamstown Theatre Festival, Rags for Roundabout Theatre Company (workshop), Stars of David for Daryl Roth Productions, andHappy Days, a new musical (first US tour). Further directing credits include Yentl (score by Jill Sobule, Asolo Rep),West Side Story (MUNY, Circle Award nomination), Disney's Believe (Disney Creative Entertainment), Disney Fantasy Christening (with Neil Patrick Harris & Jerry Seinfeld), Happy Days (National Tour, Paper Mill, Goodspeed),Arts & Crafts with Sandra Bernhard and Justin Vivian Bond at Joe's Pub, the critically acclaimed revival of Jesus Christ Superstar (revised with Stephen Oremus, Helen Hayes), Theory of Three (NY Stage & Film), Citizens Band(Spiegeltent) and numerous television commercials. Gordon is a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, The Writers Guild of America, The Dramatists Guild, and the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab.

Choreographer Carlos Acosta trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba, and has danced as a principal with English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba and Houston Ballet. He is a Principal Guest Artist with The Royal Ballet and appears worldwide with companies including ABT, Paris Opera Ballet, Kirov, Bolshoi and Australian Ballet, and has created roles in contemporary ballets both with The Royal Ballet and internationally. Acosta was instrumental in taking The Royal Ballet on tour to Havana, and starred in the Company's performances of Romeo and Juliet at The O2 Arena dancing Romeo opposite Tamara Rojo as Juliet. He has staged several shows across Europe featuring both classical and contemporary repertory, including his own choreography and the work of choreographers from his native Cuba. Shows for Sadler's Wells include the semi-autobiographical Tocororo and Carlos Acosta withGuests from The Royal Ballet for which he won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for his performances. He recently staged a new production, Classical Selections, at the Coliseum, and produced and choreographed a new production of Don Quixote for the Royal Ballet. Screen credits as an actor include the feature films New York, I Love You andDay of the Flowers.

The music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser, whose credits include How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and the song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'. The book is by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Burrows' credits includeHow To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Swerling's credits include the seminal film It's A Wonderful Life.

Photo Credit: Roy Tan

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