“Joy in it’s purest form,” says the poster for this show – I think that’s an understatement. This show is simply delightful, and absolutely flawless.
For anyone who does not know the story, it is set in New York in the 1950s. Gambler Nathan Detroit (here played by Maxwell Caulfield) is trying to find a location for his floating craps game, but is struggling to find the$1000 dollars he needs to pay a local gangster the rent to use his location for the game. To add to his woes, Adelaide (Louise Dearman), Nathan’s fiancee of 14 years has got tired of waiting for them to get married and is putting the pressure on.
Enter compulsive gambler Sky Master (Richard Fleeshman), who Nathan sees as his ticket to $1000 – knowing that Sky can rarely resist a bet, Nathan bets him that Sky can’t take a girl of Nathan’s choosing to Havana for the night. The rub is that the girl that Nathan picks is Sarah Brown (Anna O’Byrne), a local missionary who has little time for gamblers and sinners, and is certainly not someone likely to fall for Sky…
I don’t mind admitting that I had extremely high expectations for this play – I love the film, which featured Marlon Brando as his most beautiful as Sky Masterson, and Frank Sinatra is fine voice as the seedy but loveable Nathan Detroit. This production exceeded all my hopes – I can honestly say that I loved every minute. The four main leads were all excellent- Sky is a character who is both something of a bad boy, but who is also a gentleman and reveals depth of character. Richard Fleeshman was perfect in the role – lovely to look at, with a super singing voice, and perfectly embodied the character of Sky. He was paired perfectly with Anna O’Byrne who had the most beautiful voice, and was wonderful as Sarah Brown.
Maxwell Caulfield and Loouise Dearman were also both excellent and extremely funny as hopeless gambler Nathan (who needs to be both exasperating to his long-suffering fiancee, and endearing to the audience) and ever hopeful Adelaide. In fact, were it not for the fact that the rest of the cast were so terrific, Louise Dearman would have stolen every scene. She has a great voice, spot-on comic timing and the warmth the character needs.
Special mention to Jack Edwards as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, who delighted the entire audience with his spectacular rendition of Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat – just one of the many musical numbers which featured splendid choreography, excellent singing and so much colour and energy that you couldn’t help but be swept along.
If there was one thing I could change about this show, it would be that I wish I had bought tickets for more than one performance. Simply fantastic on every level.
(For my review of the 1955 film, please click here.)
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