Guys and Dolls | Canterbury Operatic

Guys and Dolls - 2nd to 6th May 2012

For our 2012 show, the Society returned to the newly redeveloped Marlowe Theatre. We chose to present a show which we had never performed before - Guys and Dolls, a classic from 1950 which includes songs such as 'Luck Be a Lady' and 'Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat'. Our cast included a dog, Pearl, who made an effort to steal one or two scenes, but her human co-stars countered her efforts by portraying a range of larger-than-life characters and launching themselves into some great routines including a finale tap dance.

For this show, our director was Stephen Cresswell (director of our previous 6 shows), our musical director was Phil Hornsey (who had previously appeared on stage with the Society in Kiss Me, Kate and Into the Woods) and our choreographer was Caroline Milsom (choreographer of The Pajama Game).

Our review from NODA representative Sylvia Blogg praised individual aspects, but concluded that congratulations were due to the "whole production team".

Photos by Harry Kilb.

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The reviews for the show were excellent. With our return to the Marlowe Theatre, newspaper reviewers made it clear that this was a different sort of show than is normally seen there, but that we offered excellent enjoyment and value for money.

Over at Stage Corner, Sam Grant had high praise for the often-overlooked crew and ensemble and said that we put on "one of the very best amateur productions I’ve ever seen."

We also received a letter from Reg Brown, a former member and director who has been out of the area for some time. He expressed his enjoyment of "by far the best amateur production of any sort we've seen for a very long time." He praised the style, the staging and the "perfect" casting, admired the "unrelentingly high energy levels" and said that the show had a "comfortable confidence about it and a great sense of fun."