Melbourne Reviews

Left – Verity Hunt Ballard and Martin Crewes. Cover – Chelsea Plumley and cast. Photos – Jeff Busby

Now in its sixteenth year, the Production Company continues to dazzle and entertain musical theatre devotees by performing some of the most cherished and celebrated Broadway musicals ever staged.

The Production Company’s 2014 season opens with the big band swing and bright lights of the Broadway classic, Guys and Dolls.

Set in the hustle and bustle of 1930s-1940s New York, Guys and Dolls is a story about gambling, falling in love and resisting marriage.

When small-time crook Nathan Detroit (Adam Murphy) finds himself without money to host his illegal floating dice game, he makes fellow gambler, Sky Masterson (played by Martin Crewes) a bet too tempting to refuse: persuade a woman of Detroit’s choosing to have dinner with him in Havana, Cuba. If Sky loses the bet he must pay Nathan $1000. It seems like an easy bet to win – Sky certainly thinks so – but the woman in question is Sarah Brown (Verity Hunt-Ballard), a Salvation Army band leader who is as pious as she is pretty.

With the stakes of the show now illuminated for the audience, Guys and Dolls moves into full swing. Complete with beloved musical numbers like ‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘Luck Be A Lady’ and ‘Marry the Man Today’, the Production Company brilliantly recreates the bold and energetic world of music and dance that has made Guys and Dolls such an enchanting musical.

Perhaps most notable about this production is the outstanding cast of actors that have been so effectively assembled to bring humour and humanity to Guys and Dolls. Adam Murphy and Chelsea Plumley (as Miss Adelaide) are particularly impressive, brassy and slapstick. Their love story is a wonderful parallel to that portrayed by Martin Crewes and Verty Hunt-Ballard, who depict Sky and Sarah’s unexpected and challenging love story with pitch perfect comedy and sobriety.

The State Theatre provides a large and elegant stage upon which the large cast of Guys and Dolls are able to sing and dance. While the icon of dice in the set recurs throughout the show to effectively delineate certain aspects of the narrative, the production could have benefited from detailed sets that sought to more readily recreate the colour, aesthetic and commotion of New York City’s scruffy streets and humming clubs. Tim Chappel’s costume design does part of the work of situating the time and place of Guys and Dolls and brilliantly projects some of the nuance and personality of the show’s characters.

Guys and Dolls is a fantastic addition to Melbourne’s musical arts calendar. It stars a wonderful array of performers and production teams, whose talent and enjoyment of their craft create an exciting and worthwhile musical theatre experience.


The Production Company presents
Guys and Dolls

Director Gale Edwards

Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre
Dates: 19 – 27 July, 2014
Tickets: $24 – $119
Bookings: artscentremelbourne.com.au | ticketmaster.com.au