Life
Guys & Dolls theatre review: Thrills and a spill as Hytner takes risks and hits the jackpot
The ambition of the evening astounds with the director’s first big musical in years
March 17, 2023 10:26
2 min read
The ambition of the evening astounds with the director’s first big musical in years
March 17, 2023 10:26Guys & Dolls
Bridge Theatre | ★★★★★
I have interviewed Nicholas Hytner several times over the years. One was towards the end of his tenure as artistic director of the National Theatre, a golden age in the venue’s history but not one known for its musicals, other than Jerry Springer: The Opera near the beginning of his 12 years and the groundbreaking London Road towards the end.
Both these shows were brilliant in their way but neither were what you would call classics in the mould of those revived by Hytner’s predecessor Trevor Nunn: Oklahoma, South Pacific, Anything Goes and My Fair Lady.
Marisha Wallace as (Adelaide (Manuel Harlan)
No artistic director likes to emulate his or her predecessor but when I asked Hytner, who before his days at the National had directed Miss Saigon, why he chose not to revive a “big musical”, his answer was almost world-weary.
He spoke of how no other form of theatre demands as much effort and resources. It was an answer I kept thinking of during this his revival of Frank Loesser’s sublime classic about New York hustlers based on the writings of Damon Runyon.
After A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Julius Caesar, this is the third show at Hytner’s Bridge Theatre to be described as immersive.
The word is much bandied about these days. In many cases it involves donning a digital headset that transport the wearer to a different environment. But here it means placing paying punters (with the right kind of ticket) at the heart of the action set in Manhattan’s streets and Havana’s nightlife.
The sky above is festooned with street signage that could have been lifted from the 1955 movie starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. Plinths magically rise like controlled earthquakes forming chest-high platforms and steamy New York thoroughfares.
Cedric Neal as Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Manuel Harlan)
