This musical, romantic comedy follows the exploits of Manhattan crap game organiser Nathan Detroit’s attempts to organise illegal gambling whilst being constantly pursued by the police and his long-suffering fiancée of 14 years; Adelaide. Needing $1000 to secure a venue for the next game, he enlists high rolling gambler Sky Masterson and attempts to dupe him by betting him he can’t take the ‘doll’ of his naming on his trip to Havana, Cuba. The doll is named as Sarah Brown, Evangelist sergeant from the ‘Save-A-Soul’ mission. The ensuing pantomime of events to match up Sarah and Sky, Nathan to get his crap game played and marry Adelaide by the end of the day to all marry up by the final number. All against a rolling backdrop of NYC, the sewers and the sultry nightclubs of Havana, but not forgetting the threat of intimidation from the powerful Chicago mobster who may take the whole game down.
I’ve never seen ECMTC [East Cheshire Musical Theatre Company] perform before, and was left very impressed at their tight ensemble performances and the calibre of the vocals. Performing this week at the spacious Romiley Forum on an ample proscenium stage it served their production well with its depth and height allowing for Broadway lit placards to illuminate the stage and serve as a reminder throughout of time and place.
Musical director Ed Nurse had tight control of his ten-piece band who played sympathetically and there sounded like a few musical arrangements which might have been played around with and I liked them very much, in particular ‘A Bushel And A Peck’, which wasn’t as twee as I have seen it usually played. The famous songs ‘ Luck Be A Lady’ and ‘ Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat’, were crowd favourites and rightly so. The musical director had drilled his singers well and there were clear and balanced harmonies. Sound was excellent all night long with no mic gremlins.
From the opening Overture and Runyonland, the production set off at breakneck pace with a lovely tableau of characters entering the stage and establishing themselves. And then ‘Fugue For Tinhorns’ gave the three male sub-leads a head start. Gorgeous, well-matched voices with lovely timbre and excellent delivery. So many excellent male voices on that stage. Nicely Nicely (Steve Shepherd), Benny (Ivor Farley) and Rusty Charlie (Kieran Hickey) worked well together all night by avoiding the sometimes frenetic pantomimical versions of these characters and playing for depth and character. They were different, they connected and they supported Nathan as his foils. Steve Shepherd’s ‘Sit Down’ in Act 2 made the audience want to stand up in rapturous applause.
Enter the 'Save-A-Soul' Mission characters of Sgt. Sarah Brown and Arvide Abernathy. Francesca Bowman had a beautiful voice and her drunken ‘If I Were Bell’ after the Havana Bacardi drinks mix up really showed a softer acting side to her character. In the initial scenes, I found it hard to connect to her as I felt she was pitched too hard. Sarah IS a hardboiled doll but she felt from an audience perspective to be coming from a place of anger rather than from frustration at the lack of conversion of NY sinners despite her daily and most fervent attempts. Her scene in Act 2 with Adelaide as they sang ‘Marry The Man Today’ though was excellent! Their interplay gave me goosebumps and as a musical number this had the biggest, dramatic impact of the night due to Bowman’s and Longdon’s team efforts. They drained every ounce of pathos and humour from that scene.
Nathan Detroit, gambler and relationship-commitment-phobe would need medicating and some help groups if his character was around in 2023. That amount of stress isn’t healthy. Nathan's role has some of the best lines in the show and he was securely performed by the confident, assured performance of Gareth Baddeley. He sang really well and I loved his duet of ‘Sue Me’ with Adelaide which contrasted so well with her anger and frustration when he stands her up after agreeing to elope with her.
Detroit’s comedy male lead was partnered by the stellar Katie Longden as ‘Miss Adelaide’ with only a tiny post nasal drip. I thought I didn’t like the play-down of the exaggerated influenza symptoms but upon reflection - and I don’t know if the director has made a decision based on contemporary upgrade, personal directorial choices and vision, or if in the newer revivals of the show she has been prescribed some stronger meds but - I liked Adelaide with less caricature. I loved this Miss Adelaide. She had the vocal belt to blow you into next week but also the softer timbre and control to pull you in too. Longden’s interpretation breathed some new life into the usually ditzy version of Adelaide by giving her some warmth and depth. She was supported by a fabulous set of Hot Box dancers choreographed stylishly throughout by Heidi Fletcher and Sally Hilliard. ‘Take Back Your Mink’ was performed at a slower pace than usual allowing for more of a burlesque style number and it worked. Every word could be heard thus supporting the narrative.
Sky Masterson, a high rolling gambler who seeks the love of Sarah Brown by convincing her he’d get her a dozen souls to save the mission if she comes to Havana with him but then gets her a Bacardi infused milkshake whilst there which loosens her up enough to have a dance. (1950’s messages of how to get the woman of your desires is now controversial but it’s part of the plot.) Sky gets rebuked by Sarah after the Cuba trip and he has to seek her affections in other ways. He comes good on his bet and does indeed save the mission. Sky was played by the suave, velvet-voiced Alex Bingle who looked and sounded exactly right. He had a comfortable demeanour and was a great foil for Brown’s hard exterior until he finally cracks her. His ‘Luck Be A Lady’ with an excellent ensemble was a star turn in Act 2 and really got the audience going.
Other minor parts were played effectively. Alexandra Severn’s General Cartwright was well grounded and sharp, and Arvide played by Dave Mallen was in safe hands and he gave us a lovely version of ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ . Lt. Brannigan (Chris Simmons) had just enough menace to be a nuisance to the illegal gamblers and Big Jule (Mark Watkins) was a big enough a presence to make his presence felt with just a tiny tip of the hat to Brando's Godfather.
Highlights of this production were many: Thom Copestake’s direction was well thought out and he had executed some scenes better than I have seen done in professional productions: The Havana Club scene and The Mission scenes. Moving ensembles around and scene shifting and transitioning a big cast are the trickiest parts of a big musical and he directed them all with aplomb. If any of the adaptions to the version I am familiar with are down to Copestake then hats off to him. They were clever and served the show well by somehow contemporising it a little but I can’t quite define how. The pace was excellent and finally, credit where credit’s due: a fabulous lighting plot and cross spotlighting .It was as stunning to look at as it was to listen to .
If you haven’t got a ticket, then I highly recommend a trip to the Forum before Saturday before your luck runs out.
Reviewer - Kathryn Gorton
on - 26.4.23
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