The faint noise of nearby rock gigs and prematurely drunken revellers isn’t the ideal setting for most theatre shows, but for Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival’s production of Guys & Dolls, it’s a cost-effective background hum for downtown New York.
Convincing 1930s NYC accents blend impressively on the classic opening Fugue For Tinhorns. The chemistry (“chemistry?!!”) of unlikely love interests Sky Masterson (Josh Lewis) and Sister Sarah (Elle Dance) isn’t setting off sparks, but it’s more than made up for by their stunning vintage crooner and classic Disney-esque vocals. Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide, played by Kristian Zgorzelski and Rhian Morwood, are believably jaded lovers, while Adelaide’s Lament is a particularly impressive rendition of this challenging character song.
Lengthy dance sequences are a challenge to pull off without a live band or a cast made wholly of full-time professional dancers, but Giaccolina Crothers’ choreography manages to add more movement than many of the 1955 film’s scenes. Most notably, Luck Be A Lady Tonight is chock full of character, with the mob of visiting craps players each bringing their small parts to life as they circle in anticipation for the big night ahead.
The rest of the supporting cast seems to be having a lot of fun, too, from Miss Adelaide’s chorus of giggling hens to the comically stern troop of marching Christians. Special recognition should go to B. Griffiths for her gender-swapped Big Jule: larger than life, though not as large as her bodyguard.
Jokes abound on the intrusion of women in lad culture and the entrapments of marriage. It’s sure to have some younger members of the audience rolling their eyes over the toxicity of ‘I hate my wife’ humour and wondering if the straights are okay. The audience doesn’t seem too uncomfortable at sporadically becoming burlesque spectators, though, and remarkably, the scene where Salvation Army stalwart Sarah is tricked by a romantic interest into getting drunk doesn’t fall flat on this crowd.
But you simply gotta gamble on this long-outdated script. The pay-off is hit after hit of hugely enjoyable songs made familiar to many through the covers of Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald or Doris Day, and, underneath it all, a timeless story of opposites attract.
When 15 years or so earlier, a prowling cat walked onto the stage during Everyman’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the spotlight was stolen for a moment by one of the many potential background animals Shakespeare left out of his cast. Now with more layers of security, let’s hope this year’s festival can keep the Fleetwood Mac tribute, Catfish & The Bottlemen and Noel Gallagher fans from stumbling too close to this other world of rogues and retromania.
Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival: Guys & Dolls, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Fri 19 July
On until Sat 27 July. Tickets: £25. Info: here
words ISABEL THOMAS photos CRESSIDA FORD
