Guys and Dolls - Koorliny Arts Centre (3 May 2025)

What a mammoth undertaking! Bringing to life a feted musical from Broadway's golden age with a huge cast, an equally impressive band, and all the attendant creatives and crew needed to put such a show on its feet. I counted 26 cast members and 16 musicians plus two musical directors in the program. A challenge for any director let alone one in the talented Rp Van Der Westhuizen who is tackling his first adult cast musical. In this he is well served by staging it at Koorliny which has built up a sterling reputation over many years of mounting award winning, community theatre musicals.   

Premiering on Broadway in 1950 Guys and Dolls is a time capsule of the prevailing views of the time back in Nu Yawk city where sinners run riot with their gambling and their boozing while the dolls dance in the clubs and, in the case of Miss Adelaide (Jenelle Russo), want to finally tie the knot after a 14 yearlong engagement to hustler Nathan Detroit (Ben Mullings) who is more interested in where to host his next craps game. To complicate matters, Sarah Brown (Hannah Charlotte) from the local mission strives to save these poor sinners' souls but instead encounters the smooth talking Sky Masterson (Lochlan Curtis), a renowned gambler, who is entangled in Detroit's schemes. 

That's the simplest of descriptions for what is considered one of the great musicals which has a lot of story strands going on that eventually collide in, to no one's surprise, a happy ending. The comedy is broad, the lessons learned pretty earnest, however, there is some throwback sass, an infectious score, and several famous songs to have your dice-throwing hand tapping away merrily. 

It is long though - almost three hours with an interval - which is a fascinating reflection of the storytelling rhythms from over seventy years ago. It takes forever to set up 'the bet' around which most of the action revolves and it isn't shy about reinforcing its story beats throughout a scene or in the reprise of a song. Oh, what a modern day editor might do if given the chance! All that being said, there is much to admire about the show with this production pulling out all the stops. 

Ben Mullings makes for a good-natured Nathan Detroit who's hard not to like as he tries to navigate his way through the perils of the law and matrimony with seemingly equal disregard for both. There's always the sense Detroit is in over his head, especially when he's being fleeced by Big Jule (Pear Carr), but he takes it on the chin and we root for the guy. I mean, Detroit has a growing fictional family to support, after all! 

Jioji Nawanawa immediately captures the attention in an expressive performance as Benny Southstreet with good comic instincts and a soulful voice which he demonstrated to further effect in the lobby at intermission. A classy touch as he sang standards with such passion - Feeling Good was spinetingling! I understand cast member Hallelujah Selepe did likewise onstage and they swap those locations each show.  

Jamie Jewell is all sleek amiability as Nicely-Nicely Johnson before he explodes into peak song and dance mode with Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat, a true showstopper in the home stretch. Clayton Van Dijk plays along gamely, his broadly sketched policeman, Lieutenant Brannigan, always one step behind the ongoing shenanigans. 

You might be thinking that's a lot of guys and not a doll in sight until we get to Jenelle Russo's Miss Adelaide who's the star attraction of the Hot Box club and increasingly distraught at her marathon engagement to Detroit. Part lovable and ditzy; part feisty and forlorn, it's a showy role with Russo playing well against Mullings, with Adelaide's Lament a highlight. There's some inventive letter writing back to mother and a certain allergic reaction, both of which are played for reliable laughs.

On the other side of the ledger, Hannah Charlotte, who sang so beautifully in last year's The Sound of Music, excels again vocally while playing a buttoned-downed character in Sarah Brown who is beguiled and dismayed by Masterson. Charlotte has some lovely moments with Geoffrey Leeder who plays her character's grandfather; gives a glimpse into what Sarah might become free from the strictures of scripture in the Havana sequence; and generally conveys the mixed emotions of a devout person falling for someone way outside her comfort zone well. 

Lochlan Curtis lends a touch of the matinee idol to Masterson in a suave turn that is quite captivating. While the swirl of gangsters and ne'er-do-wells is rough-edged, Curtis turns on the charm when needed yet convinces us that maybe there's something more to this smooth crooner as Sky seeks to redeem himself. Croon away he does until Curtis kicks it up a notch with Luck Be A Lady, a highlight on which so much of the ensuing story rides. 

Others to stand out include Thomas Dimmick as Harry the Horse who radiates a steely confidence and hint of menace; Sarah McCabe as a stern General Cartwright who threatens to close down the mission; and Pear Carr throws his weight around quite literally as the out of town mobster who doesn't like to lose.

They're supported by a large ensemble that adds scale and glamour as well as fleshing out the world in colourful detail. And colourful it is with excellent work by Costume Designer Lyn Leeder in creating that 50s type gangster look, all suits, vests, and bowties for the guys; the various bold dance outfits for the dolls in era appropriate fashion; and the more sombre attire for the mission members. Augmented in wonderful style by the Makeup, Hair & Postiche Design of Yvette Drager Wetherilt who continues to show why she was inducted into the ITA's Hall of Fame this year. 

The set by Pear Carr is multi-tiered and uncluttered to allow such a large cast to roam freely in depicting facets of everyday New York life or bring the razzle dazzle in big production numbers. The main features are multiple neon signs that clearly delineate where we are in the city and the bold lighting design of Kat Brieden and Chloe Palliser which accentuates all that 'sin' going on. These elements, along with Connie Wetherilt's lively choreography, ensure that when the show hits its straps it's an entertaining ride. Van Der Westhuizen keeps proceedings moving as quickly as possible with a certain rhythm as we move through the different story strands. 

Musical Directors Taui Pinker and Tara Oorjitham do an excellent job with strong vocal performances across the board, led by Charlotte, while the band attack the brassy score with flair. Sound design by Jonathan Hoey is top notch and ensures that all the lyrics and dialogue, even when the broadest of accents is being used, is clear throughout. 

While the pace and style of the storytelling at times felt very old-fashioned, there's no doubt that this is a bright and bold staging of an acknowledged classic. If you're a fan of big Broadway musicals of yesteryear it's another strong outing for Koorliny. 

Photos by Mark Labrow Photography

Assassins - Roleystone Theatre (1 March 2025)

Let's not beat around the grassy knoll. Assassins is one of my favourite musicals. I love the audacity of telling a story - a musical no less! - about those misbegotten fiends who successfully assassinated or tried to assassinate a president of the good ol' US of A. All because "Everybody's got the right/To be happy."

Of course it's Sondheim. It could only be Sondheim. With a deliciously subversive Book by John Weidman which features one of my favourite sequences in pretty much anything which I won't spoil here but is still as astonishing a piece of writing as the first time I saw it back in 2015. 

The tone is darkly satirical and by dark I mean at the bottom of a mine shaft, complete absence of light, dark. Which some may find challenging or perhaps miss the point of, whereas I find utterly invigorating. This isn't a hum-hum-hummable musical with happy lyrics and a leggy chorus line - this is a savage commentary on the American dream, gun culture, and the lengths desperate people go to after being marginalised and cast aside. If you tell a whole nation they can be anything they want then create a system where that's abundantly untrue, well, sometimes a president or two might get shot. 

I deliberately called them misbegotten fiends and it's true, there's a high level of dysfunction and self-delusion here. But the musical also scratches beneath the surface of these footnotes in history to try and explain their actions without exonerating them. Some names are eternal - John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald at the forefront; others are largely forgotten or oddities now. It's an eclectic mix across time, across rationales, across personality types and circumstances. It's also bleakly funny in ways that cut deep. 

Director Christopher Alvaro has made several key decisions in this version. The first is to forgo the usual gaming arcade set; instead opting to depict the white frontal columns of the White House with the orchestra nestled behind them. Characters literally take aim at the workplace and residence of  the president; several incarnations of whom wander by in the form of Peter 'Pear' Carr who also designed the set with Alvaro.  

The second is to dial up the performances to 11. This is a full-throated assault as the cast magnify the grievances, real and imagined, of these figures, almost haranguing the audience in the process. It's bold and, when it works best, utterly electrifying. Apologies, Giuseppe Zangara (Marshall Brown). 

The satirical tone is immediately established as The Proprietor (Carr again) entices our wannabe assassins to purchase a gun in the opening number Everybody's Got The Right and solve all their problems by shooting a president. The intensity that follows is led by the wonderfully earnest performance of Mark Thompson as the pioneer of all American presidential assassins, John Wilkes Booth. He commands the stage as he does the other assassins, imbuing Booth with commitment and passion. We have no doubt Booth believes in the (misguided) cause he spilled blood for in notorious fashion. The vainglorious actor who changed the course of history.

In contrast, the transparently vain Charles Guiteau (Rp van der Westhuizen) hawks his book, claims he is extraordinary, and demands to be Ambassador to France; the refusal to name him as such leading to President James Garfield's demise. The showstopper, The Ballad of Guiteau, becomes an increasingly fraught display that verges into true horror as Guiteau stares mortality in the eye as the gallows are assembled before him. The manufactured charm and confidence van der Westhuizen portrays the character with earlier evaporates into manic fear. Not for the fainthearted! 

Ethan Battle doubles down on the earnestness as his Leon Czologosz features in several key moments - the harrowing story of how a bottle is made after John Hinckley (Lochlan Curtis) carelessly breaks one in a bar; the encounter with the anarchist Emma Goldman (Erin Craddock) who he has been following and declares his love for; leading off the aptly named The Gun Song; oh, and his assassination of William McKinley. 

Paul Treasure, bedraggled and decked out in a Santa outfit befitting a child's worst nightmare, excels as Samuel Byck. Gifted with two brilliantly written monologues - one directed at Leonard Bernstein ("Lenny"); the other to Richard Nixon ("Dick") who Byck intends to kill by flying a 747 into the White House. Treasure expertly modulates his delivery from conversational to outright bile as he pours Byck's disenchantment and rage into a tape recorder while happily munching away on a sandwich or burger. It's exhilarating to watch.   

Another standout is Sonja Reynolds as Sara Jane Moore, the absentminded, would be assassin of Gerald Ford who teams up with Charles Manson acolyte, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (Madeleine Shaw) in a compression of real events. Shaw brings the creepy, cult-like vibes while Reynolds imbues Moore with a ditzy air that adds genuine comic relief. You sense Ford was never in any real danger though fried chicken and pooches should be wary! 

Marshall Brown adds to the intensity in stomach churning fashion playing the man who tried to assassinate FDR while Lochlan Curtis is quietly obsessed as Hinckley. The closest you get to a ballad in this musical is Curtis and Shaw singing of their love for, ahem, Jodie Foster and "Charlie" respectively. Yep, it's dark alright!  

Erin Craddock is featured as Emma Goldman and leads the ensemble, most notably in the show closer Something Just Broke which follows the exceptional 15 or so minute sequence that is brilliant in its sheer audacity. And is where we talk about Matthew Walford's Balladeer, the clean cut presence who seemingly mocks this collection of misfits before... go see it, you'll be astounded. Walford adds a slice of genuine Yankee spirit that turns into bewilderment as events transform his character. 

The score, as you would expect, is superb and well played by the orchestra under Krispin Maesalu. Lighting design by Alvaro is very stylistic with each assassin having their own colourful backdrop as Booth thrusts them literally into the spotlight. Like the musical styles Sondheim uses, the costumes also have to cover a range of time periods and fashions which Cherie Alvaro manages well; that grimy Santa suit and Booth's handsome attire to the fore. First time choreographer, Tatum Stafford, adds more movement than I expected with, again, a playfully satirical style at work. 

My main issue, however, is that this IS Sondheim so the lyrics are incredibly important. With no pit and a sizeable orchestra directly behind the cast, it was a battle at times to clearly make out and savour those words. The volume on the mics was turned up high to compensate which often led to some distortion and, when there was shrieking to be done in non-musical moments, became somewhat painful.  

However, I walked away impressed by a total cast commitment to going for broke with their characterisations and how relevant this musical is today, perhaps more so than its debut off-Broadway in 1990 and its 2004 Broadway revival given current events in America. An outstanding entry into the Sondheim canon which is tackled with real verve here. 

Assassins is on at the Roleystone Theatre until 15 March.