Andrea and I hit the road Friday for Chemainus, British Columbia and the Chemainus theater for their presentation of Guys and Dolls.
Ten Tony awards, seven Laurence Olivier and six Drama Desk Awards make Guys and Dolls an lovable piece of twenties Americana. Luck Be A Lady was the one song that rung bells for me – and although I am more of a Gilbert and Sullivan kind of guy, I found Guys and Dolls well paced, and lively with a cast of journeymen actors (some of whom multi-tasking in the orchestra!
The velvet smooth Sky Masterson, played by David Leyshon was perfectly cast with vocal wunderkind Megan Morrison as Sarah Brown. The subplot of Miss Adelaide (Janet Gigliotti) and Nathan Detroit (Robert Clarke) keeps the audience busy with its heartwarming storyline of unrequited patience – Described as the perfect musical comedy; Gangsters, card sharks, night club headliners and the Salvation Army – is a high energy show that would resonate with anyone a tad over the age of 40 – some of the situations and “lingo” might miss the mark for the younger crowd – but everyone seemed to have a blast.
The Chemainus theater has 274 seats in a very steep “Savoy” style and design which puts you in the action. The stage area is inches from the front row – and in the case of Guys and Dolls, the set was simple but immensely innovative.
At the last moment Andrea and I opted for the dinner buffet in lieu of searching in vain for Chemainus cuisine (I am sure there are other street choices but I did not dig that deep.) The buffet, at around 25$ per person was staggering with interesting and fresh choices, an enticing salad bar with some modern choices, hot entree’s included wild salmon, vegetarian ravioli, carved strip loin and BBQ pork ribs. The dessert table buckled under pancreas stressing cheesecakes, pecan flans, fruit pies, cream pies and an ice cream sundae attendant!
Guys and Dolls plays matinee and evening shows through September 11th 2010 – Don’t wait. Get your tickets now. We are actually considering going in for seconds!
While in Chemainus on the Friday night, we stayed at the ultra-romantic Scented Garden B&B – going to blog that shortly.