Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls

Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls tells the story of gambler Sky Masterson who falls in love with Salvation Army girl Sarah Brown, and Nathan Detroit who is desperate to find a location for his notorious crap game, whilst engaged to his fiancee Miss Adelaide for 14 years. This timeless musical is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, featuring toe-tapping songs and big ensemble dance numbers, neatly mixed with comedy, drama and romance set in New York and Havana.

Classic songs include ‘Luck be a lady’, ‘Sit down you’re rockin’ the boat’, ‘I’ve never been in love before’ and ‘Guys and dolls’.

Guys and Dolls was performed 15th to the 18th May 2019 at the Hexagon Theatre, Reading.

A musical fable of broadway. Based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. This amateur production was presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe).

Guys and Dolls was directed by Wendy Carne with musical direction by Jon Brooks, choreography by Denise Schult and lighting design by Kim Hollamby.

 

What the audience said

Brilliant show, so professional. I had had an awful day and this really made my day! The scene changes were so smooth and clevely done. 

Excellent, really enjoyed. Brilliant as usual.

Absolutely fabulous! The principles had fantastic characters and the singing was faultless. All chorus stayed brilliantly in role and sang their socks off…the male chorus – wow! The set and lighting completed the picture and the band were quite obviously having as much fun as the rest of us. A wonderful night’s entertainment all round. Well done to you all and good luck for the rest of the week.

That was truly amazing. Such a professional performance from everyone.

Well done!! It was equal to any London theatre show I’ve been to.

The show was brilliant and so professional. I think you all may have converted my wife to a musical now!

I want to say how much we all enjoyed the show – it was really good. My daughter who is studying GCSE drama was entranced. The singing and dancing were brilliant and the show whizzed by at great speed.

Was an amazing night, I loved every minute of it! The cast were truly amazing.

I hate am-dram “dance” routines, and there were none in this show. Instead, the great use of lighting provided all the necessary movement, which meant that set pieces, such as “Luck be a lady” worked really well without the audience being distracted by crap dancing. It also meant that everyone could concentrate on the singing, and that really paid off. Well done!

Loved the show, all four main principles were excellent and the lady who played Adelaide must be a professional!

Exhilarating production, convincing characters, male voices amazing. Still talking about it today! Have already put the dates of Sweeney Todd on the kitchen calendar.

Supberb show in every way from start to finish. We all loved it.

Just great, and very enjoyable. What a beautiful voice the Mission Guy has and Sky and Nathan were just so good.

A thoroughly enjoyable show, all the cast were amazing. Well worth the trip from Cannock. Well done to all the cast and the backstage crew who also worked excellently as a team.

Well, what a treat last night was! I was bowled over! The cast were amazing and the choral elements were absolutely phenomenal. With the well pitched choreography, they all looked like capable dancers and the acting was funny, relaxed and fresh. So many strong performances. Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat was outstanding as were all the group numbers as the singing was just so strong and the choreography was fabulous.

Fantastic Guys and Dolls last night. Blown away by the brilliance of the whole production. Well done to all the cast and crew.

It was incredible. I couldn’t believe how professional it was – I was expecting a village hall type of thing. My favourite performance was from the girl playing Sister Sarah.

 

Gallery – more images to follow shortly!

Cast

• Sarah Brown Sara El-Hanfy
• Sky Masterson Matt Smith
• Miss Adelaide Lorraine Cox
• Nathan Detroit Stephen Cox
• Arvide Abernathy Brian Wingfield
• Nicely-Nicely Johnson Rob Latimer
• Benny Southstreet Chris Reeves
• Rusty Charlie Dean Davis
• Harry the Horse Michael Schult
• Angie the Ox Steve Jewell
• Society Max Chris Thomas
• Liver Lips Louie Gareth Wells
• Brandy Bottle Bates / Joey Biltmore Brian Bretney
• Big Jule Joshua Bethel
• Officer Brannigan Louise Quelch
• General Cartwright Denise Schult
• Hot Box Girls Kazia Grainger, Cath Hannan (Mimi), Emily Hutchings, Lucy Hutson, Gemma Mason (Take Back Your Mink), Hannah Rakowska, Emma Reeves, Hannah Scarisbrick-Rowe, Helen Thomas
• Mission Band Members Emma Bradbury, Millie Criddle (Agatha), Gemma Mason, Jessamy Vincent, Claire Wilson
• Waitresses, Tourists and Inhabitants of New York Georgie Butler, Kelly Herman, Sophie-May Kent, Laura Rountree, Charlie Scott

Guys and Dolls Orchestra

• • Piano and MD Jon Brooks
  • Keyboards Cameron Baker
  • French Horn Tom Benellick
  • Percussion Julian Bown
  • Violin Steph Cole
  • Trumpet Mark Cox
  • Trumpet James Lowe
  • Reeds Sarah Moore
  • Reeds Anna O’Brien
  • Reeds Zoe Phillips
  • Bass Jim Pullen
  • Trombone Alex Turvey

Behind the Scenes

• Director Wendy Carne
• Musical Director Jon Brooks
• Choreographer Denise Schult
• Production Coordinator Emma Bradbury
• Lighting Designer Kim Hollamby
• Lighting Programmer & Operator Adrian Croton
• Lighting Tech/Lead Follow Spot Louis Martin
• Follow Spot Nick Humby
• Lighting and Sound Equipment Hire Dinrino Theatre Services
• Additional Lighting Equipment Kim Hollamby
• Stage Manager John Simmonds
• Deputy Stage Manager Katie Wise
• Stage Crew Joe Daniels, David Edwards, Ian Reeves & Jackie Stoffels
• Hexagon Sound Board Dan Bryan
• Sound Assistant Sally Ollerenshaw
• Sound Effects Brian Bretney
• Props Kazia Grainger
• Scenery Hire Scenetec
• Wardrobe Team Amanda Bretney & Emma Reeves
• Makeup Catherine Hannan
• Hair and Wigs Catherine Hannan
• Prompt Sylvia Thomas
• Displays Marketing Team
• Front of House Presentation Jessamy Vincent
• Webmaster Kim Hollamby
• Website Content Katie Wise
• Marketing Officer & Publishing Manager Jessamy Vincent
• Marketing Team Emma Bradbury, Kazia Grant, Louise Quelch, Denise Schult & Jessamy Vincent
• Photography Alexis Gray
  
• Fundraising Team Lorraine Cox, Michael Schult & Kerry Webb
• Social Team Emma Bradbury & Louise Quelch
• Ticket Officer Stephen Cox
• Front of House Manager Jackie Stoffels
• Front of House Liaison Michael Schult
• Front of House Team Olivia Bretney, Godfrey Chigona, Craig Clements, Carol Criddle, Samara Farrow, Emma Fry, Rob Furnell, Hils Latimer, Katrina McEvoy, Kate McNamara, Cian O’Halloran, Andy Schult, David Schult, Sylvia Thomas & Becca White.