‘Guys and Dolls’ review – Jessie Jordan
Over the past few months, the drama department has been rehearsing non-stop, in order to perform the musical “Guys and Dolls” to many RHS pupils, staff and parents.
The musical is about a man – Nathan Detroit- who gets caught up in a situation of illegally playing the “crap game” and consequently being very broke. Engaged to Miss Adelaide, a woman of the entertainment industry, for 14 years, when Adelaide finds out about his “crap game”, she is distraught at this betrayal by her fiancée. Meanwhile, Sky Masterson tries to woo Sergeant Sarah Brown for a bet given by Nathan. Sarah is the sergeant of a Save-A-Soul mission, and disagrees with the thought of going to dinner with a gambler, but consents when guaranteed a dozen sinners for her next speech. Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet, Nathan’s employees, escort Sky to the crap game, where they meet Big Jule, who insists on using his own dice to cheat into winning money he has already lost. Sky compromises a bet that involves all the gamblers to attend a prayer meeting; a win for Sky resulted in the prayer meeting taking place, where the gamblers admitted their presence was only due to them losing a bet. Sarah and Sky then express their love for each other, and Nathan and Adelaide get married after 14 years of engagement.
Over the course of the play, many RHS students showed their full potential, with a range of acting, singing, dancing and, well, stripping. The overall atmosphere was that of New York City in 1950, with a bright display of outfits to match as well: especially the golden, pyjama-styled costumes Miss Adelaide’s dancers wore. However, the best costumes were (obviously) the slightly ill-fitting red flannel shirts worn when performing in Havana, the restaurant Sky takes Sarah to. Additionally, the songs were well-rehearsed with flashy choreographies, and we learnt what an American accent truly sounded like. Sort of. Some of the best songs involved “A bushel and a peck”, performed by Imi Peterson and many dancers, “If I were a bell” by Emilie Edgington, and “Sue me” by Brandon Hylton and Imi Peterson.
We have the students to thank for the performances, particularly Brandon Hylton, who played Nathan Detroit, Imi Peterson (Miss Adelaide), Amadi Gray, Sky Masterson, and Emilie Edgington (Sarah Brown). Nick Sims and Conall Corcoran played the duo of Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet, and Rowley Kerr played the very important role of Big Jule. We were also treated with a very special appearance of Torres Chin aiming to woo Miss Adelaide- a particular highlight of the musical.
The performance was very well rehearsed, and many congratulations must go to Mr Kerr for organising the whole thing, and to all the students who took part in the musical. Sue me if I’m wrong, but I call for an encore.
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