New West End GUYS AND DOLLS — Page 5

I finally saw this and the critics have overhyped it. It was enjoyable but by no means did it change my life. The staging is nothing we haven't seen before. It's fun but it's been done elsewhere with other musicals.

The real highlight of the evening is Marisha Wallace as Adelaide. For the first time I saw a version of this character that didn't make her into a "sexy baby" to quote Taylor Swift. She spoke like a normal person and came across as a strong women. What a revelation! When viewed through that lens I realized here is a woman who has a job, reads psychology, and supports other women. She's not an idiot by any means. She just happens to be in love with one! It may seem trite but this all blew my mind and if this transfers I would be thrilled for Marisha to transfer with it. She's an incredible talent and has crafted something new with this character -- new but entirely in line with the text.

SonofRobbieJ said: "Yeah...Celinde Schoenmaker's negotiation between chest and head (if you will) is fascinating and I can imagine just listening to it, it could be jarring. But something about her characterization made it make sense on stage. And yes...total Touch of the Cannavale."

Yeah, I have no doubt it's totally effective in-theater in context of the show, just doesn't play as well on an album.

I don't agree for a second that Wallace is the first to interpret Adelaide in this way. First of all, Vivian Blaine didn't put on any 'cute' voice and she didn't come across as dumb. Her acting style was simply of the time. Julia McKenzie was devastating in the 1982 National Theatre revival - she was the heart of that production, and Faith Prince really made her mark in the 1992 Broadway revival, seeing Adelaide as something other than shticky and 'dumb' - you can hear her discuss this in all her interviews practically. She really worked hard with Nathan Lane to make that couple real and believable. Hell, Lauren Graham, was the first bass-baritone to play Adelaide. She was awful, and her choices were really out there and very few of them made sense, but she did something 'different' I guess. These same discussions occurred with Daniel Fish's Oklahoma! -- that the actors were making new ground with these characters. Many actors have paved the way before and have offered similarly new interpretations. Now, I agree that there have been many Adelaides in the past that HAVE gone the shticky/hammy route - Sophie Thompson went overboard in the 2014 Chichester production in the UK, for example, but I adored it. She was hysterical. Maybe some of you haven't seen Guys and Dolls that much before, so your own view of the characters is limited.

MrsSallyAdams said: "Listening to the 2023 London cast album now. I’m very familiar with the 1992 and 1976 Broadway recordings. This one is fine but isn’t really conveying what’s special about this production.


I’m glad the cast members are pulling off the Runyon dialects. I’ve listened to several London Cast Albums where the attempts at American dialects are distracting."

Several of the cast members are American. This production is so enhanced by the visuals so it's understandable if that doesn't come across on the album. But they're giving stellar performances and I am really enjoying "revisiting" the production with this album.

Since the show has extended almost a year, there will likely be a full cast change soon. Andrew Richardson is leaving next week and Daniel Mays will only be back through February. Any ideas of who we would like to see fill these roles?

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I'm looking at getting tickets to this soon, and are there specific seating sections that people find preferable to others? I know it's environmental/in the round so each area probably has its benefits and drawbacks, but I wanted to see if there was a general consensus.