"Guys n Dolls" by Erewash Musical Society Youth Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

One of the greatest Noo Yoik based musicals of all time, and one of my all-time favourite musicals on stage or on film.

"Guys n Dolls" is the story of Nathan Detroit and his doll Adelaide and Sky Masterson and his newly discovered doll Sarah, who is in the process of saving souls. Will Sky's soul be one soul she can't save, or will Sky give up his gambling evil ways and succumb to the word of the Lord?

Based on the stories and characters written by Damon Runyon, the action starts in Runyonland where Nathan is looking for a place to hold his latest "crap game". The only way he can think of raising the funds to pay for a venue is to bet Sky $1000 that he can't take a "doll" of Nathan's choice to Havana for dinner, and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown from the mission.

In the background Adelaide, Nathan's fiancée for the last 12 years, wants to get married and they plan to elope, but all does not go to plan while Nathan is still planning the latest "crap game".

This is Hollywood though so it's all bound to end up happily ever after, and it does, leaving you with a fluffy, warm, squidgy feeling in your tummy.

Sky Masterson, suave, smart, handsome who unexpectantly falls for Sarah Brown, the Missionary leader, is played by Oliver Nolan. I stated in my last review of Oliver as Poseidon in "The Lightning Thief", that he was officially cool, and he takes that "cool" up another level as Masterson. He looks cool, he acts cool, he has a cool accent and he can sing, and I am sure that his voice has gone even deeper.

Sarah Brown, the Sergeant of the local Mission who falls for Sky, is played by Izzy Cole. Oh My God what a voice! Her voice takes me back to those classic musical women, people like Kathryn Grayson (look her up on Google/YouTube); so pure and clear and beautiful to listen to. Love the way that she acted out the rebuffs of Masterson's advances and the slap she gives Sky in the Mission hall looked incredibly real. I also loved the Havana scene as this had been done in a slightly different way, which I'll mention later. Everyone was talking about Izzy's voice in the interval.

Livvi Hickling plays Miss Adelaide, long time love of Nathan Detroit and a lead performer at the Hot Box nightclub. Another wonderful voice and I liked how Adelaide was not presented as some high winy-voiced airhead, as she was in the film. Livvi also has the choreography nailed, especially in the number "Take Back Your Mink" plus "Adelaide's Lament" was given a lovely subdued feel. The duet Adelaide does with Detroit in "Sue Me" is also another highlight for me.

Nathan Detroit is played by Elis Moore. Elis has an ear for accents, and you know how much I love a well presented accent. A very broad Bronx/Noo Yoik accent which at times, when the script required a faster paced speech, the accent never suffered but the clarity of the speech became mashed, which would be truly realistic if listening to any heavy accent when the owner of that accent becomes excited. I've always been a fan of Elis's vocals and his comedic abilities, and both are well utilised as Nathan Detroit.

Nicely Nicely Johnson is played by Noah Hickling. Just like his name suggests, he is the nicest and cheeriest of the gambling crooks. High-spirited and a bit naïve, but sincere and genuine. Nathan’s loyal friend and lackey. This young man has one of those mobile faces and he can make you smile with just a change of expression. I have really been impressed with his vocals in past shows but in this show his vocals are true musical theatre vocals. It's not easy to maintain a constant accent like Nicely's, but to also sing in accent is even more difficult but Noah does both brilliantly. Just listen to "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat", one of my favourite scenes in this production. Plus the rapid wordplay in "The Oldest Established" is performed, not just delivered. This young man is becoming an all rounder with his vocals, acting, dancing and comedy skills; Noah is more than ready for leading man parts.

Blake Hagan plays Lieutenant Brannigan, the hapless B - Movie type cop, chasing his tail trying to catch Sky, Nathan and the rest of the players.

Heather Beardmore plays Harry the Horse who is entertaining Big Julie while he is upstate.

Benny Southstreet is played by Harry O'Boyle. Nathan’s right-hand man and a gambler himself. Smart, slick, always moving and shaking, but with what he thinks are Nathan’s best interest at heart. Another consistently excellent character acting job by young Mr O'Boyle.

Yasmin Aldous plays Rusty Charlie, the gambling sidekick of Nicely Nicely and Benny Southstreet. These three roles are so well cast because they all require actors who are naturally funny and can sing in three part harmony, as showcased in the opening "Fugue For Tin Horns".

Jessie Gatehouse plays Big Julie, who is in town to "shoot crap", not a bad loser, it's just that he always likes to win! With a moustache and beard drawn on to her face, Jessie is completely transformed into this greedy gangster. Another fine stage combat scene is where Sky punches Big Julie during the "Luck be A Lady" section, and the timings on that punch was impeccable by both Oliver and Jessie that it looked incredibly real

Lowri Moore is Angie The Ox, another one of the gamblers.

Myla Statham-Browne is General Matilda Cartwright who has come to town to tell Sarah and the Missionaries that they have to close this missionary post down but not even Matilda B Cartwright fails to not fall under the spell of the beguiling Sky Masterson, and allows them to prove the success of the missionaries.

Arvide Abernathy, Sarah's Uncle and fellow Mission worker, is played by Gabriella Tilley. There's a lovely scene in the second act where Sarah confesses to Arvide that she does love Sky, but she will not see him again. Arvide expresses his faith in Sky's inherent goodness and urges Sarah to follow her heart and sings "More I Cannot Wish You"

Agatha is played by Jessie Jerram, Mollie Jerram is Martha, members of the Mission group.

Xander Thorpe plays Joey Biltmore, the owner of the garage where Nathan wants to hold the secret crap game at.

Emily O'Boyle is the Master of Ceremonies who introduces Miss Adelaide and the Hot Box dancers.

The Hot Box dancers are played by Lowri Moore, Eloise Chamberlain, Yasmin Aldous, Sophie Forman, Lauren Hazledine, Clarissa Armitage, Juliette York and Tayla Dilks. The choreography for these dancers is fantastic and these young actors create a Hollywood nightclub style vibe in both big numbers "A Bushel and A Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink"

Rose Staniford and Eva Woodcock have ensemble roles.

Directed by Anna Fitzpatrick. This is the full version of the musical but with a few trimmed bits I noticed, which I felt enhanced the enjoyment of the show. The section in Havana had been trimmed slightly and I loved the flow and stage combat of that section which was almost balletic. The pace was perfect as was the comedy and the wonderful accents from everyone.

Choreographed by Sophie Robbins and assisted by Katie Chamberlain. So many choreographic highlights in this production for me. The crap game in the sewers was done in silhouette and was almost cinematic. The Havana scene had a big impact with it being trimmed down flowing into the fight scene with Sarah and the Havana dancers. This is one of those wonderful classic musicals where there are lots of choreographed scenes and every scene was just a joy to watch.

Musical Director is Martin Lewis, who knows his way around where musicals are concerned, and his experience, on and off stage, reaps so many dividends when it comes to big scale musicals such as this. The score sounded classy, which is something that martin brings to any MD job.

The soundtrack is full of classic musical theatre songs that have become favourites in the Great American Songbook; songs like "If I Were A Bell", "A Bushel & A Peck", "I've Never been In Love Before", "Luck Be A Lady", "Sit Sown You're Rocking the Boat", "Marry the Man Today" and of course the title song.

Costumes were thanks to EMUS Committee, friends and family and were marvellous. I loved the smart suits for the gamblers and also loved the costumes for the Hot Box dancers.

Set Designers are Mark and Bill Robbins.

Sound design and operation is by Dave Dallard, assisted by Jack Clark, and everyone who was mic'd up in the production was heard perfectly, and no missed mic cues.

Lighting design and operation is by Richard Chamberlain, assisted by Dave Martin. A colourful musical which was complemented by a colourful lighting design.

Having had the pleasure of reviewing EMUS for quite a while now, I get to see the theatre journey that these young people travel down. I see them grow and their talents get better and better. I hear the male actors' voices breaking and their development and growth from ensemble to leading man roles. I also get to see the ladies blossom and their voices get stronger and fill out. This musical is an absolute classic, and not the easiest one for a youth group to take on, but I think that I can honestly say that all the actors have moved up another rung of their dramatic ladder and have given audiences possible one of the best productions from EMUS on Thursday night. If you've already got tickets for the rest of the run, you are in for an absolute treat. Don't gamble on tickets being available because I bet they'll all be gone by Saturday!

"Guys 'n' Dolls" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 7 February.