Full Casting Confirmed for McGregor’s Guys & DollsDate: 28 February 2005
Full casting has now been confirmed for Michael Grandage’s much-anticipated West End revival of Frank Loesser’s 1950 Broadway classic Guys and Dolls, which opens at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre on 1 June 2005 (previews from 19 May).
As previously announced (See News, 8 Nov 2004), Ewan McGregor makes his West End musical debut as gambling chancer Sky Masterson, while the other principals are Jenna Russell as his Salvation Army love interest Sarah Brown (See News, 19 Jan 2005), and Douglas Hodge and Ally McBeal’s Jane Krakowski as fellow gambler Nathan Detroit and his long-suffering girlfriend Miss Adelaide (See News, 11 Jan 2005).
The cast also features Martyn Ellis (as Nicely Nicely Johnson), Niall Buggy (Arvide), Gaye Brown (General Cartwright) and Sevan Stephan (Big Jule). Also in the cast are Norman Bowman, Patrick Brennan, Lyndsey Britton, Darren Carnell, Ben Clare, Matthew Cole, Cory English, Liz Cooper Gee, Charlotte Gorton, Zoe Hardman, Madeleine Harland, Nicola Keen, Graham MacDuff, Andrew Playfoot, Kelly Price, Jo Servi, Spencer Soloman, Summer Strallen, Suzanne Toase and Sebastian Torkia.
Guys and Dolls has music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and a book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerlin, based on the short stories by Damon Runyon about New York low-life in the 1940s. Loesser’s score includes classics such as “Adelaide’s Lament”, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before”, “Sue Me”, “Luck Be a Lady”, “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” and the title song.
The “musical fable of Broadway” first reached London in 1953 when it ran for 555 performances at the Coliseum. It was made into a 1953 Hollywood film starring Marlon Brandon, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. In 1982, Richard Eyre mounted a multi award-winning production at the National, which was revived in 1996. This will be the first new London production in 23 years.
Directed by Grandage, the Donmar Warehouse’s artistic director, Guys and Dolls will be the first Donmar musical originated outside of its own 250-seat auditorium (See News, 17 Jun 2004). It’s designed by Christopher Oram, with choreography by Rob Ashford, musical supervision by Jae Alexander, lighting by Howard Harrison and sound by Terry Jardine and Chris Full. It’s produced in the West End by the Ambassador Theatre Group and David Ian for Clear Channel Entertainment, in association with the Donmar’s own in-house production team.
- by Terri Paddock
