GUYS AND DOLLS
Piccadilly

WHAT'S all the fuss about this production? Ewan McGregor? Yet another no-lose revival?
There are certain shows producers would have to be desperate to spoil before they’re ever going to fail. This is one of those thanks to the fantastic success of the film and the show’s clever, tuneful songs. Ever since Nicole Kidman stripped off for The Blue Room at the Donmar, the West End has cottoned on to the draw of star power (preferably Hollywood and American, but anything remotely A-list will do). Judging by the stage door queue afterwards, it was clearly Ewan McGregor the audience had come to see, with the side attraction of television’s Jane Krakowski.
It turns out that for Krakowski, as eternal fiancée Adelaide, playing the nosey secretary in the hit series Ally McBeal was a huge come-down. She is a long time Broadway stalwart with an impressive, CV and, in that polished, precise way American stage stars do, shines among a mostly ordinary cast. She even manages some very charming British timing to her humour. Only one other actor approached her standard and Martyn Ellis’s Nicely Nicely Johnson is an exuberant, nimble and vocally robust depiction of the rotund sidekick.
McGregor is competent. His voice is rather weedy and his presence without any charisma or real flair. He doesn’t even pause for a proper round of applause when he comes on – mostly because it appears few of the audience actually realise that he is on. He clearly doesn’t dance much either.
Douglas Hodge is an odd choice for chief crap-game fixer Nathan Detroit too, having a constant facial expression of tousled surprise. It is a no-lose formula. Expressive sets, cool, monotone colours, striking choreography and crisp orchestration would make this a good night out regardless of who was starring.
Director Michael Grandage, rather like a good football team’s goalkeeper, doesn’t have a great deal to do for this to be a success.
However, once the hype has died down and the magic of the stars has departed, I wonder how long this production will last for.

Until March 2006
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