"Guys 'n' Dolls" by Beeston Musical Theatre Group

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton,

"Guys 'n' Dolls" involves the unlikeliest of pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager. Set in Manhattan, "Guys 'n' Dolls" tells the story of con-man Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find new place for his illegal, but notorious, crap game. When their trusty venue is found out by the police, Nathan has to find a new home for his crap game quickly - but he doesn’t have the dough to secure the one location he finds.

Enter Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to take on any honest bet with a high enough reward attached. Nathan bets Sky that he can’t take the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to Havana, Cuba, with him on a date. When Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan chooses Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown, head of Broadway’s Save-a-Soul Mission. Sky thinks he’s been duped, but he’s in for even more of a surprise when his efforts to woo Sarah are so successful that he falls in love with her himself!

"Guys 'n' Dolls" takes you from the bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a “doll.” "Guys 'n' Dolls" features a host of memorable tunes, including “Adelaide’s Lament”, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before”, “If I Were a Bell”, “Luck Be a Lady”, "Take Back Your Mink", "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat" and many more.

I haven't seen this musical for a few years and had forgotten just what a brilliant comedy show this is, with sections that I had either forgotten were in it, or other productions had left out. The section with the "dream husband" sequence to Greig's "Morning" from Peer Gynt, many of the one-liners and just how much Nicely Nicely eats on stage; all of these seemed completely fresh to me. I was advised though that these are all in the script.

Maybe other productions had left them out to trim the length of the musical as the Beeston Musical theatre Group production did last just short of three hours with the interval; but it didn't seem to be that long at all, probably because I was enjoying the show that much! And here are several reasons why......

Nathan Detroit is played by Jake Gelernter, and what a wonderful debut leading man role for Jake for BMTG. He was funny, he was completely likeable, he can sing, he can dance, has great timing - just hear the duet "Sue Me", has wonderful chemistry with Adelaide, in fact there is nothing seemingly that he can't do on stage. Don't you just hate people with that amount of talent?

Rhodri Denton plays Sky Masterson, the part played by Marlon Brando in the film version. I wasn't sure if he was feeling a touch of nerves tonight but if he was, he soon got into his stride and became the performer I've grown to appreciate on stage. He absolutely smashed Masterson's big song "Luck Be A Lady"

Sarah Brown is played by Emily Owen. I loved the straight-laced Sarah Brown but thought that maybe Sarah could have had more fun in the drunken Havana scenes with Sky, and took advantage of the drunken section of the musical. That said Emily gave everything that I would have wanted from Sarah, and with that lovely soaring voice she has, it was like she had a direct line from Heaven itself.

Jodie Lakin is Adelaide. One of my favourite characters in this musical, and what I also appreciated was that Adelaide's voice was taken down an octave or two. None of that cartoonish squeaky voice, but a more palatable voice, which allowed us to hear the funny one-liners that Adelaide has in the script. Bringing the character's squeakiness down also meant that we appreciated what a lovely voice Jodie has.

Lucas Young is playing Nicely Nicely Johnson. Just when I thought Lucas could not get any better, I'm proved wrong. Their comic timing was immaculate, just listen to "The Oldest Established" for some rapid wordplay. Nicely Nicely was eating something every time the character appeared on stage, from a baguette, to cheesecake, to pizza, to celery, and that enhanced the comedy in the character. The irony is that Lucas has the body of a dancer, slim and well-toned. They are also a natural dancer, which anyone watching would see straight away. Their vocals are also pure musical theatre and when you combine all three of these talents in the one song "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat", you get a moment that makes you feel like jumping to your feet at the final note. I am not the only one who recognises their talent as the audience's applause at the end was raised by a couple of decibels.

Benny Southstreet is played by John Hand; Benny being one of those characters you would not want to meet down a dark alley, unless you were throwing dice of course!

Andy Bulmer plays Arvide Abernathy, and I am so pleased to see Andy back on stage, and in such a brilliant part. You get to hear Andy's singing solo here when he sings "More I Cannot Wish You" to Sarah.

Big Julie is played by Maisie Cutts, and it's really nice to see this part switched to a female character, and Maisie is wonderful in this part. You can imagine her playing one of the characters in "Bad Girls" with her deep, growling and menacing voice.

Gareth Morris plays Harry The Horse, and I think if anyone had asked which part would be the one for Gareth, this part would be the role that I'd have chosen - you can see what an eye for a character director George has for placing the right actor in the right part. Perfect casting.

Tim Yearsley plays Lieutenant Brannigan, and I really didn't recognise Tim as this B Movie cop character, could be because the police hat was pulled quite low over his face, but another fun and accurate piece of casting.

General Matilda B Cartwright is played by Maria Lawrence, and not even Matilda B Cartwright fails to fall under the spell of the beguiling Sky Masterson. I was sat in the balcony and even I could see Maria's eyes twinkling in the presence of Masterson. Another wonderful character filled performance.

Rusty Charlie is played by William Howarth.

Directed by George Lamb, who just got everything spot on. I like a pacey piece of theatre. This was not pacey, it was paced, and paced perfectly. I found lines and sections that I'd not remembered seeing in previous productions of this musical; I even asked George if he had added lines and parts in, but he denied it. Maybe it's because I have not seen such a brilliant production of this show for years, or maybe George just has that magic, along with the cast to add sparkle where I'd not seen sparkle before! George could have done no more to make me enjoy this show more than I already do.

Choreographed by Beth Yearsley, and again sheer perfection. I adored the foxtrot section in Act One, and I loved the sassy routine for the Havana section. Everything else in between, before and after these were also wonderful.

Musical Direction is by Chris Toon, assisted by Charlotte Howarth, and with such a brilliant and fun score, this thirteen piece orchestra had a wild old time with the various musical styles and lush arrangements. There was a couple of times that I had difficulty hearing the actors talking over the music, but that could be as I was in the balcony. But I was determined that not even that would mat my love for this show.

Sound Production is by Dave Dallard, and there were just a couple of mic sound glitches early on which were amended swiftly, apart from that a very comfortable aural experience.

Lighting Production is by Dave Martin with nothing negative worth mentioning. A wonderful colourful lighting design, especially in the Havana club sections.

The set was fairly static built on two levels, which allowed the main cast and the large ensemble to fill out the stage, especially in the main crap game itself, accentuating the importance of the game to the players; a draw to anyone who was anyone in the underground gambling circuit. The set was designed by George Lamb.

As you'd expect, the costumes for this show are gorgeous as well and are designed by Mina Holtom.

With such a large cast and ensemble, the Production and Stage Manager, Katie Bird did a cracking job making sure everyone was exactly where they needed to be to make this show run like clockwork.

Talking of the ensemble, here goes......

Cibele Alvarenga, Alice Cammell, Jennifer Chatten, Sacha Cornelius, Maisie Cutts, Emma Grey, Charlotte Howarth, Keli Wain (The Hot Box Girls - and boy were they HOT!!). Jane Cottee, Naomi Batley, Philippa Buchanan, Cheryl Camm, Charlotte Drewett, Daisy Forster, Christine Walton, Hannah Gorton, Ruth Maddison, Claire Farrand-Preston, Esther White and Amelia Delbridge.

As with "South Pacific" the other week, this show is an absolute classic and has the feel of family viewing on a Sunday on the box. It makes you feel warm and safe and you know that there is going to be a happy ending and everyone lived happily ever after, and that's exactly how I felt when I came out of the theatre. And that feeling can only be a joint venture between an already great show and an amazingly talented group of people, on and off stage.

Opening night was packed to the rafters, so make sure that you get a ticket or two pretty fast; follow the fold or it may not only be Adelaide who'll be lamenting! And I'll know you'll be havana great night of entertainment, and if you don't, sue me!

"Guys 'n' Dolls" is on at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 29 October.

 "Alice In Wonderland" by Bingham Musical Theatre Company and BSC Theatricals.

Bingham Methodist Centre, Bingham.

The story of Alice who went down the rabbit hole, into Wonderland, and the crazy selection of characters she encounters.

It was like being a kid again, loving the crazy mayhem and childish humour, as well as being able to appreciate the darker side of the story. It was almost like panto had come early.

I am sure that I have not seen this particular version of the story before because it seemed that there were so many different script pieces added to this which in turn added to the fun and a more comic storyline.

Holly Loran, who is just nine years old, is playing Marigold The Flower, and is the youngest member if the cast.

Ellie Stothard played The Dormouse so well, she made me feel sleepy. Well, there is something incredibly infectious about seeing someone yawn. It was nothing to do with the show as all the racing about and energy from the other cast members were enough to keep any dormouse awake! Ellie also rose to the occasion as Rose later on.

Annabelle Black plays Young Alice and the Knave. After young Alice ate the "Eat Me" parcel, left by The Caterpillar, Alice reappeared grown up, but came back as the Knave, eager to get herself out of trouble by painting the Queen's white roses red, because the wrong ones had been planted. Guilty or Innocent? With these characters as witnesses and the Queen having the final say, her head looks in danger of being lopped off!

Celia Bostridge plays Alice, well the older Alice who got to meet more of the inhabitants of Wonderland and got to play croquet with the Queen Of Hearts.

Alicia Richardson plays The Queen Of Hearts. Ooh! she is a nasty piece of work going round the audience demanding their heads be cut off. I can imagine Alicia had great fun with this bossy role.

Fred Waddingham plays The King. This is his first stage role since school and some of that bossiness seemed to be rubbing off on His Majesty as he accused one of the front row audience members of wanting to steal his crown. Well, he had no chance of bossing The Queen around has he?

Karen Richards takes the role of The White Rabbit; you know the one that was always late. Brilliantly excitable all the time, and I loved the costume.

Sydney Adams is the movement director, The Cheshire Cat and Tiger Lily. Sydney really embodied the characteristic of the cat. Being a cat owner, you just know that the cat is always the boss and will only do what she wanted to do, and that came over really well in Sydney's acting.

Paul Green doubles up as The Caterpillar and Tweedledee. The pairing of Paul with Nik was a brilliant piece of casting because between them they created one of the funniest scenes in the "battle" scene, all to the introduction to the song "Eye Of A Tiger" for that extra dramatic effect.

Nik Hudson also doubles roles as Tweedledum and the voice of Humpty Dumpty, which I really enjoyed with the voice characterisation for the oval one.

Emily Hudson plays The March Hare and Emma Townsend plays The Mad Hatter, and here is another wonderful coupling, and both with great timing as well, creating comedy mayhem with the tea party scene. They wear you out just watching this energetic twosome.

Vicki Goodwin is The Narrator, the glue that binds all of the characters together.

The Director is Ben Bradley who also designed the set, the costumes and operated the sound as well. He probably sweeps up after the show as well! Loved the simplicity look to the set with the giant playing cards with black curtains between the giant cards for entrances and exits for the cast.

Ellen Loran also takes on Direction duties as well as playing Violet and helped with the costume designs, which may I say were absolutely splendid and quite wacky as well.

There's a brilliant energy within this cast, and the show is perfect for a younger audience, especially as it is pitched at the right level comedy wise, and it's not a long play either. That said, I enjoyed the simplicity and the craziness of the show. Great fun for all ages.

"Alice In Wonderland" is being performed at Bingham Methodist Centre until Saturday 22 October where there may be a chance of getting a ticket as Friday night was sold out!

 "Nine Night" by Natasha Gordon.

Nottingham Playhouse

It always intrigues me when the title of the play gives nothing away as to the content of the play, so it was with great interest that I viewed this piece of theatre. I found out that this is the period of time that Caribbeans hold the wake when a person passes.

Written by Natasha Gordon, her debut play, this is a collaboration between Nottingham Playhouse and Leeds Playhouse. It was first commissioned and produced at The National Theatre and then went on to the West End.

Gloria is gravely sick. When her time comes, the celebration begins; the traditional Jamaican Nine Night Wake. But for Gloria’s children and grandchildren, marking her death with a party that lasts over a week is a test. Nine nights of music, food, sharing stories – and an endless parade of mourners. A story of family, food, music and mourning.

The passing of a loved one is incredibly sad and emotional but it also brings to the surface elements of comedy, as well as anger, and these emotions are in full force in this sharp and witty play.

This cast are an example of ensemble excellence as they act exactly in the way you'd expect a real-life family to act. Several had monologues while others interacted in the annoying ways that brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles etc do at get togethers such as this.

And it is times such as this that it's so warming to see the family members coming together to celebrate the love of one person, who although was unseen in the play would have been much loved as recognised by the wonderful acting from this cast.

It was also like an education to me; I picked up quite a bit of the old school patois and it was nice to see the generational differences through the family. The importance of the food and the drink in celebrations is also brought to the fore here, but most of all, and at the core of the play is family.

It's quite a rare occurrence to see a play written by a black person, performed by a mainly black cast, directed by a black person on the main stage of any theatre; there should be more, and not just in Black History month, any month.

Shereener Browne (Lorraine) is the daughter of Gloria, who has passed. You see the stress Lorraine has with the whole organisation of the traditional nine night. She is really missing her Mum but tries to keep it all in, but then her brother throws further stress her way!

Andrea Davy (Trudy) enters like a whirlwind and has the same effect. Trudy is late for the start of the nine-day celebrations but really makes up for it with her foodie gifts for the wake, as well as a few bottles of rum and a traditional dress for Anita, as well as a smaller identical one for Anita's baby. A really passionate performance, and we discover why there is so much pent-up emotion, but I'll leave you to discover that if you go and see the play.

Josephine Melville (Maggie) is just an incredible actor; if I had to pick a favourite character, Maggie would be the one. She is old school to the core with dollops of fun on top. Her final scenes, after she did a spine-tingling version of the gospel song " Precious Lord Take My Hand", seeing her communicating with Gloria were so intense, you could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted Playhouse auditorium.

Jo Mousley (Sophie) is the white wife of Robert, and I loved the line, when quizzed about putting weight on, she commented that she was building up her "Black Woman Ass". There are lots of comic lines for Jo, but her character has to put up with quite a bit from her husband.

Daniel Poyser (Robert) always seems to have something on his mind as Robert. He can't relax, even with a few glasses of spirits inside him. One of the reasons for his unrest is revealed, which causes anger from his sister, as he wants to look forward, whereas Lorraine wants to linger a little longer in the past.

Wayne Rollins (Vince) plays Maggie's husband and these two are one of those wonderful pairings that work so well together. It was so comfortable watching Wayne and Josephine together; there is a warmth there, a tenderness, true chemistry which is forged by the length of time Vince and Maggie have been married. There is a section with Vince that brought the house down as he was dancing to bhangra and really going for it, proving that there is life in the old Vince still. Brilliant fun character.

Jessica Whitehurst (Anita) is Lorraine's daughter, a very modern character who dressed like "Krusty the Clown", as described by Lorraine on one of the nights, and breast feeds her daughter. I loved the line where Maggie states that after nine months the baby will be craving for a bit of chicken, indicating the generational differences once again.

Every one of these actors are masters at character acting. But hey, that's the stamp of a good actor at the end of the day.

Along with the main characters and actors, the play included a community ensemble consisting of Richard Brown, James Fields, Veera Kaur, Shirley Levy, Alex Meade, Glen Platt, Rosario Rodriguez-Fernandez, Dionne Rose, jane Russell, Ray Samuel McLeod, Shereen Thompson and Janice Unwin, creating volume for the wake. Although they may have only been seen on stage for a few seconds, what an opportunity to appear with this cast, and it does no harm to list this show on their CVs either.

Directed by Amanda Huxtable, she really brings out the story in this play, all the subtleties, all the fun, the blend between the old and the young, and most of all the love between the characters, even when they are not getting on at times. It's all there in one- and three-quarter hours of straight through comedy and drama.

The set and the costumes were designed by Emma Williams. The set is a kitchen area with seating with a cut away screen to show the upstairs room, where a significant part of the story is seen. Loved the attention to detail for an elderly, set in their ways home including one of those glass fishes with swirly paint that they had in the seventies; my parents had a pair of these and seeing them again really took me back. There were lit photos which changed at certain aspects of the play, a wicker settee and one of those old-style kitchen doors painted green with glass panes. loved the set and loved the costumes, again designed to show the generation gaps between the family.

The Digital Content creator for the show was Esi Asquaah-Harrison, and really added to the magic of this presentation.

The Sound Design is by John Biddle. You really felt that in the other room there was a "blues/Soundsystem" style party being held, suitable muffled bass to give a certain distance from the kitchen area. The Original score was composed by Christella Litras.

Lighting is by Simesola Majekodunmi and used mainly to indicate the scene changes; an informative use of this specific area of the technical side of theatre.

I really enjoyed the whole family element which runs through this story, and I loved the characterisation and comedy the actors brought to the stage. there are a few choice words within the script which is why the play may not be for younger audience goers, but personally, I loved every minute of it.

"Nine Night" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 5 November.