Monday 23 March 2009

Love & Lawbreaking ... Sneezes & Swagger ... Guys & Dolls


The College production of Guys & Dolls just over a week ago was a tremendous success – full of exuberant humour, confident acting and musical panache.

With a cast consisting of students from d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form and Leckford Place School (as well as a band featuring both students and staff), Guys & Dolls showed off a fine array of dramatic and musical talents.

Highlights included the comic pathos of Adelaide's lament – veering between impassioned song and no less impassioned sneezing – in which Rosie Cohen's Adelaide traces the origin of her chronic cold to her frustrated desire for marriage ...


... the tempestuous development of romance between straight-laced Salvation Army sergeant Sarah Brown (Cressy Stewart) and swaggering gambler Sky Masterson (Matt Thorns) ...


... the flamboyant double-act of Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet (Lydia Hassan and Zanni Cohen), sidekicks par excellence ...


... and, throughout the show, the incorrigible charm of the hapless yet resourceful Nathan Detroit (Josh Vizor), whose tendency to land himself in tight situations is matched only by his ability to squirm free of trouble at the last minute.


The stage was peopled by a host of other colourful characters – Dave Christie's wrily sarcastic officer of the law, Lt. Brannigan; menacing mobster Big Jule (Dulith Wanigasakira) and the coyly flirtatious Hot Box girls (Miranda Stewart, Olivia Frazer-Smith and Tess O'Shea), to name just a few – and the band, led by Head of Music Melanie Ward, provided a pacey, upbeat soundtrack to the show.

Congratulations to all involved on a superb production.

See more pictures from the show on Flickr

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