Guys and Dolls - Bridge Theatre

Do you know when the cast change will be? Going in August and was looking forward to seeing Daniel Mays, but also Owain was brilliant in One Man Two Guvnors so would be happy seeing him too!

Danny's evidently having fun if he's going to come back!

Marisha is off through the 6th, on hols. Any reports on her understudy gratefully received. Hope Andrew is hanging in there !

Does anybody know how difficult the TodayTix rush is for this? Coming in September and trying to decide if I should buy in advance or not.

Yes, I had no trouble buying a Rush standing ticket for a Saturday night a month ago. I did get on it at 10am though, but was pleased to be successful even for a peak night of the week.

Must admit I went to see this largely on the strength of Daniel Mays as it's not really my type of musical - so glad I made it this week before his hiatus - but this is a superb, feisty production which deserves all the plaudits it's getting. The staging is fantastic and the direction too.

The four leads were great. However, for me, show was stolen tonight by Cedric Neal as Nicely-Nicely Johnson who brought the house down with his rendition of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat".

Delighted the Bridge has this huge success. I do worry though whether it will fall off the radar for some of its regulars, hosting one production for a whole year. Wouldn't it make sense to transfer?

Given the staging, I’m assuming it would a) be very awkward and expensive to move it, and b) there can’t be many other theatre spaces in central London where it would fit in its current format.

The stage and how it’s choreographed with entrances and exits is basically custom built for The Bridge isn’t it?

It won't fall of my radar, but I do feel a bit sad that one of my favourite venues isn't doing any new shows for the best part of a year. I wonder if memberships are being extended for free? There's not much benefit for the £50 fee at the moment. I do understand the economic necessity though - hopefully it will give them the financial security to get back to business as usual next year. 

They have staged this to make some much needed money. It will stay there as long as it’s selling well.

What are these memberships you speak of?

Finally caught this on Saturday evening via Standing Rush tickets. What an absolutely joyous production! I don't think I've ever seen such a happy audience at a theatrical performance before. Everyone was lapping it up and it had the feel of a real event.

It sounds like we were fortunate to see all five of the leads on and I thought they were all excellent. Marisha Wallace was sensational as Adelaide and Andrew Richardson was a wonderful discovery. At first I thought he wasn't up to it vocally, so I do think he's might be struggling with the vocal stamina required of this run, but he showed he very much had the vocal talent in his duet with Celinde at the end of Act 1. Celinde Shoenmaker had a bit of a thankless role but still had fun with it, especially in the gay bar in Havana! I love her voice and it was a pleasure to hear it, as always. Daniel Mays gave it his all and was fantastic. The sweat dripping off that man! Cedric Neal's Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat was an utter showstopper and he milked it for everything. I loved his vocal on it.

The ensemble worked extremely hard and kept up an amazing level of energy and intensity throughout. It would be really easy for this show to feel safe and a bit polite in lesser hands, but the ensemble helped to give it a bit of an edge. Costumes and set were absolutely glorious. Bunnie Christie has to be the best in the biz.

Hytner has smashed this one out of the park. It's going to be attracting die hard and casual theatre goers for a long time yet.

All of that said, The Bridge foyer was like someone had set up a bar in a sauna. People were drunk before the show, falling into each other. Bar staff were shouting, the cloak room situation was marginally stressful and the signage lacking for a first time visitor. Inside the auditorium, some people were a bit too drunk in the standing area which meant personal space got a bit invaded a few too many times. I do question if the stage really needed to have quite so much movement too and whether the same effect could have been achieved with a little less herding around of the crowd. All the shepherding was a bit annoying and made me miss parts of the beginning and end of scenes, and props were often positioned directly in my eye line. So, not a perfect show for me, but very impressive and one of the must sees in town at the moment.

I was there Saturday night - don’t recall seeing any drunk people and I was in the stalls right by the main entrance to the standing section. The foyer was warm and humid (due to the rainstorms throughout the day) and is always crowded. Glad you enjoyed it - agree that Andrew Richardson's voice sounds a bit leggy. Seen this a few times now and still love it!