Photos: McGregor & Co-stars Get Match Fit for DollsDate: 13 April 2005
Ewan McGregor and other stars of the Donmar Warehouse’s much-anticipated West End revival of Frank Loesser’s 1950 Broadway classic Guys and Dolls - Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell – joined director Michael Grandage to launch the show to the media today.
The production opens on 1 June 2005 (previews from 19 May) at the Piccadilly Theatre, where booking has today been extended by six months until March 2006. The new dates will feature a new cast as the limited contracts for McGregor and the other principals will end in December 2005.
At today’s press event, held at the Century Club in Shaftesbury Avenue, McGregor, now best known for his film appearances in the likes of Star Wars, explained how much he was relishing a return to the stage. “I did Little Malcolm (at Hampstead Theatre and in the West End) five years ago. Up until that point, it had been seven years (since I’d been on stage). I promised I’d never let it be that long again because I love it too much.”
Later, the Scottish screen star reiterated his “love” of theatre. “I think it’s really important for actors to work on the stage.” The two weeks of rehearsal to date for Guys and Dolls has, he said, “been more fulfilling than any movie. Movies are so draining. They pull away from the actor, but theatre just fills you up. I needed my fix.”
McGregor Gets Match Fit
Although McGregor has sung on screen before, in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, Guys and Dolls marks his musical stage debut. He admitted that, when Grandage approached him about the job prior to his recent round-the-world motorcycle trip, the idea seemed “out of left field”, but after initial hesitation, he phoned the director that same night to accept. “It’s great to do things you haven’t done before, it’s good to test yourself.”
Asked whether he was worried about whether he may face the same struggle as Martine McCutcheon in terms of meeting the demands of a major musical production, McGregor said, “I could sense this kind of panic around me” - when telling others about the job, their reaction was, “Eight shows a week … how’s the voice?”.
In preparation, the actor has been taking private lessons with a singing teacher and been getting “match fit” during the rehearsal period. “Your voice gets stronger and stronger in rehearsals, and you become increasingly aware of not damaging your vocal chords. You’re taking care of it (your voice).” McGregor has been avoiding loud, smoky places and straining his voice outside of rehearsals – “it’s become second nature to me now”, he said.
The Donmar Approach
McGregor also pointed out that, in returning to the stage, he didn’t want to be seen as another movie star giving his version of Hamlet or some other title role. “I was much more interested in being in a company. That feeling is incredible, of being on stage with a company and knowing that you can rely on them and, hopefully, they can rely on you. It’s very powerful.”
The cast, and particularly the “chemistry” between the four principals, was also a key factor for director Grandage in maintaining the Donmar aesthetic. “The starting point is to hire the right actors who can sing rather than just hiring singers and dancers who go into the roles.”
Jane Krakowski, a Broadway stalwart and well known to TV fans from Ally McBeal, said today that the Donmar approach was one of the main attractions for her doing the production. “It’s being treated as a play with music. As an actor, that’s so much more fun than just doing what’s expected from musical theatre.”
She and her co-stars were in agreement about not being intimidated by their Guys and Dolls role predecessors, either on screen or stage. “The memory of someone’s performance is going to be so much better than I could ever do it and maybe better than it even was,” said Krakowski, so actors and directors needed to “come at it in a different way”.
Grandage’s production, she thought, would be “a very fresh take” on “one of the great American musicals”. The director added that he aimed to “mint it (Guys and Dolls) fresh for a new generation of theatregoers”. As part of that, the creative team are re-examining the original Damon Runyon short stories on which the musical is based with the aim of creating a “wonderfully authentic period feel”.
As for why he chose to tackle Guys and Dolls now, when Richard Eyre’s landmark National Theatre production remains fresh in the memories of many, Grandage said, “It’s a great musical and, if you’re going to do a musical, you might as well do one of the great ones.” He added, “We think it’s time it was seen again.”
Ewan McGregor plays gambling chancer Sky Masterson, Jenna Russell is his Salvation Army love interest Sarah Brown, and Douglas Hodge and Jane Krakowski are, respectively, fellow gambler Nathan Detroit and his long-suffering girlfriend Miss Adelaide.
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 Ambassadors Theatre Group and David Ian for Clear Channel Entertainment, in association with the Donmar’s own in-house production team.
- by Terri Paddock
MORE PHOTOS FROM TODAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE:
Douglas Hodge, Jane Krakowski, Jenna Russell & Ewan McGregor
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