Guys and Dolls - West End and UK Tour

I was there last night, and this show has morphed under the new cast into the most hilarious escapism in London!

Spoilers follow. . .

I had seen the show at the Savoy, but booked one of those half-price flash sales, to see Samantha Spiro, after reading good things here. I had hoped to see a more subtle take on Adelaide than the effortful Sophie Thompson, so I was peeved when the cast changed under me.

However, post Brexit, I felt so miserable, that the prospect of being "steamrolled by the Rebel Wilson train" seemed like just the tonic.

This show is through-the-roof hilarious now! Clearly, if you haven't a taste for broad comedy, this isn't for you. But if you do, only Mischief Theatre can rival this show for laughs. And here, the singing is better.

It isn't just Rebel Wilson. Swapping David Haig for Simon Lipkin is like swapping cheese for chalk. Haig really was "good old reliable Nathan [Detroit,]" wheres Simon Lipkin's Nathan is about as reliable as a promise from Michael Gove. You wouldn't trust this klutz to walk up stairs without falling over, let alone run a crap game.

And that doesn't bother me, because this is escapism, not realism. Simon Lipkin's shtick amuses the heck out of me: he stutters and sweats, frets and jigs, more nervous than a teenager on his first date. If Haig was butter, Lipkin is scrambled eggs.

One of the problems of the show at the Savoy (perhaps the only one) was the mismatch between Haig's realistic performance and Sophie Thompson's comic exaggerations. By contrast, Simon Lipkin and Rebel Wilson balance each other. Not merely in the sense that they both have an effortless easy talent for comedy.

They also balance each other because the shtick each does is the opposite of what the other does.

Where Lipkin is nervy and fearful, Wilson is brazen and fearless. Where Lipkin fears to tread, Wilson will tread on everyone and everything and not notice. It makes so much sense that someone-who-thinks-too-much (Lipkin's Nathan) and someone-who-thinks-too-little (Wilson's Adelaide) fall head over heels for each other. They are like Jack Spratt and his wife, and between the two of them, they lick the comedy platter completely clean, with their complementary styles of comedy.

Rebel Wilson is quintessential blundering blustering Fanny Brice. In "Take Back your Mink," her charisma makes her stand out from every girl around her, spiked by the obvious visual difference of her body type. She is a natural comedienne, able to expand her frame and mouth and gestures, but also has the musical theatre knack of withdrawing into sudden sentimentality and making it work.

If there was one thing Wilson could make work better, it is that she doesn't appear sneezy enough in "Adelaide's Lament," though perhaps she saves that for "Adelaide's second lament," which worked a treat.

As long as you are prepared to throw realism to the wind, and are ready for big silliness, the Lipkin-Wilson duo are the most joyful and funny pairing on the London stage.

And this show keeps on giving, because the Oliver Tompsett - Siubhan Harrison pairing is almost as delightful, and by the end, it IS as delightful.

Not at the beginning though, as Tompsett is a very different beast to Jamie Parker. Parker is so loveable and charismatic a presence that I was rooting for his Sky Masterson from his first gleaming toothy grin. Tompsett is smarmy by comparison. It is as if Parker was one part Frank Sinatra, one part preening puppy, whereas Tompsett is one part Clark Gable, one part slithering snake.

It is the snake-like quality of Tompsett that had me rooting for Lipkin's Detroit to take sleazy Tompsett's money. At the Savoy, I wanted the opposite, for chirpy Parker's Masterson to take Haig's money.

But Tompsett's oily presence actually proves a boon to the production, as it gives his character further to narratively travel towards falling in love with Siubhan Harrison's adorable Sarah Brown. And when Tompsett makes his turn, and gets heartfelt about Harrison, he really milked it, and I was very touched!

Overall, this is a stonkingly funny and entertaining show, and the move away from romantic realism to all around comic escapism makes this the best and most entertaining tonic for our times that I can think of.

5 stars

Is Simon Lipkin due to stay on after Rebel leaves too? At the moment, I think it's just Oliver who is most likely to stay on for the majority of the run?

I wouldn't be surprised if they have two more star names to close out the show.

I think it must have been in a written interview, as I don't think I have seen them being interviewed on tv. I seem to remember there was something about the neighbours complaining as they had a habit of singing show tunes loudly in the garden hot tub?

Hoping to see this today if Southern can get us into London on time. Don't have tickets yet, have seen it's at tkts but was wondering if anyone's had any luck just going straight to box office and getting a good deal? Might not have time to try both.