Review: GUYS AND DOLLS, Bridge Theatre

With immersion so up close you may as well add it as a Spotlight credit just for being there, director’s, adaptation of the much-loved “Fable of Broadway” left audiences wanting more (even after delighting in a roaring 2 hour and 50 minute production!).

Trek to Tower Bridge and you can join unlikely lovers Sarah (Gina Beck, new to the role but owning it) and Sky (George Ioannides) in a wild Havana bar, or kick back with a real cocktail at Manhattan's Hot Box with Miss Adelaide (Timmika Ramsay) as she bickers with fiance Nathan (Owain Arthur). One guest was even 'invited', if that's the right word, to get ‘up-close-and-personal’ with our big-hearted showgirl, but he didn't seem to mind (if you know, then you know). Now in the last few months of its hugely successful run, Guys & Dolls is still a glittering, glorious extravaganza! You really don't want to miss it.

The show is set in the hurly-burly of New York City in the 1930s. It follows the journey of two contrasting couples as they navigate love, longing, and Lady Luck in the illegal gambling dens and Sally Army mission halls.

Miss Adelaide and Nathan, a salt-of-the-earth cabaret dancer and a craps game hustler, have been engaged for 14 years, but can never seem to find the right time to pick a date - at least, that’s what Nathan says. Sarah and Sky are an enemies-to-lovers pair who are trying to fathom where temperance and gambling can fit into each other’s worlds.

You know exactly what you're getting with legendary choreographer, Arlene Phillips, and this production underlines her signature style. Assisted by James Cousins, the dancing is as good as it gets, highlights including "Luck, Be a Lady" and "Havana". It'a a reminder that big musicals need big routines.

The singing has a job on its hands to match the hoofing, but it does - and then some. If Musical Theatre was an Olympic sport, Timmika Ramsay would be wearing a gold medal right now. Take everything you think you know about Miss Adelaide, "A Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink" and throw it away. The bite, growl, and power of Ramsay’s vocals match her dance moves to a ‘T’ - it was exhausting just watching her stellar performance, three hours in which she lived and breathed one of musicals' iconic roles. And, boy, can she belt!

Another standout (though it feels unfair to use that term in a universally impressive cast) was George Ioannides, who has been in the show since day one. Originally in the ensemble before taking over as the “sinner” Sky Masterson from Andrew Richardson, Ioannides’ ‘roll off the tongue' humour and wit complemented his effortless vocals in songs such as "My Time of Day" and in his captivating duets with Gina Beck's soaring soprano in ‘I’ll Know", and "I’ve Never Been in Love Before".

Even if you have never seen the show, you’ve definitely heard the rambunctious, raucous "Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat". With a double encore of the song aided by some sly fourth wall breaking, you're guaranteed to be singing it all the way home, the showstealer in a show packed with showstealers! Led by Jonathan Andrew Hume as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, who can also be seen leading a delightful intermezzo (make sure you’re back in time to see it!), this rendition proved that truly powerful songs are timeless - even 74 years on!

The show finished with a final company reprise of the title song, followed by a curtain call that gave each cast member a chance to be celebrated. Unless you have to dash off for the final tube, train or bus, I recommend waiting until the end where you may just get a chance to be pulled up and dance with the cast themselves to show off your best ‘Hot Box Club’ moves!

This sharp, sensational, and stunning production is a show that will live in your heart and soul forever. With the cast so inhabiting these characters on the margins of society, they seem to be real people, living and loving like we do, flaws and all.

And to any fellow actors who sometimes wonder why they’re fighting to stay in the industry or are beginning to wonder why they’re doing it at all, go and see Guys & Dolls before it closes. Because THAT is why we do it. For the chance to feel like this every night - the magic of Musical Theatre at its most magical!

Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre until 4 January

Photo Credits: Manuel Harlan 

Amber-Rae Stobbs is a mentee of a pilot mentoring scheme run by BroadwayWorld and the Critics' Circle.

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