GUYS AND DOLLS
THEATRE REVIEW

Forget the snow chaos. Go and enjoy the musical CAOS from a company which rises admirably to the stiff challenge of Guys And Dolls.

There's a fascinating page in the programme listing every single CAOS production since 1911 – fascinating because it makes you realise how well the company has moved with the times.

From the endless G&S of the early days, they've progressed into much more wide-ranging fare – which probably accounts for the wealth of young talent which makes this production such a treat.

The youngsters steal the show – and rightly so, bringing out the colour and fun in this lively tale of the days when a crap game didn't necessarily mean a trip to Fratton Park.

We're back in 1950s New York, with the Sally Army trying to turn back the tide of illegal gambling.

Guys And Dolls is pitched right in the middle, with a wealth of superbly-choregraphed big numbers mixed in with plenty of touching solos and duets from the young lovers who struggle to get their act together as they bridge the sinner / do-gooder divide.

Jason Walby as top gambler Sky Masterson and Kerrie Wenham as Sally sergeant Sarah Brown soon have you willing them on with a love story which really oughtn't to happen.

Meanwhile fellow gambler Nathan Detroit (Andy Murray) is doing everything in his power to avoid turning his 14-year engagement into marriage. Desperate to tie him down is Helene Davies, comfortably the highlight of the night as Miss Adelaide.

Helene Davis as Miss Adelaide
(photo : John Davidson)

The others have got it too, but Davies oozes charisma as the lovelorn night-club dancer. Sarah and Sky duet beautifully on I'll Know, but Davies takes it to the next level with Adelaide's Lament – great moments which come packaged with slick night-club dancing at its best, plus plenty of fun with the ragbag assortment of gamblers and mobsters.

With a running time of three hours, CAOS will do themselves huge favours if they manage to lose at least 20 minutes by the end of the run. Monday's opening night – assured and confident - grew better and better. Trim the first half and they're right there on vintage form. Full marks too for Paula McGovern's excellent musical direction

Phil Hewitt - Chichester Observer

BRIGADOON : CAOS Musical Productions at the top of their game

By Phil Hewitt

Reproduced with the kind permission of the Chichester Observer.

(Photo : John Davidson)

New and returning talent sees CAOS Musical Productions – formerly Chichester Amateur Operatic Society – at the top of their game with an enchanting dose of misty Scottish time-travelling romance.

Kerrie Wenham, in her first CAOS role for five years, shows herself a natural leading lady as the spirited Fiona MacKeith; opposite her, Southsea’s Andy Murray in his first show for CAOS, is just perfect as Tommy Albright, the wandering American who wanders into her life across the centuries.

You need something to click between the two, and it certainly does. Their relationship is key, and Wenham and Murray give it genuine heart, singing with feeling and real passion and bringing to life this most unlikely of romances.

Brigadoon is a village which is fated to appear for just one day every century – or to see it from Brigadoon’s point of view, each night a hundred years passes. Which is a bit of a blow to Tommy’s romantic aspirations, and yet there’s just something about Fiona he can’t let go, as he discovers overpoweringly once he gets back to New York.

But love can conquer everything in this world of fantasy, and Wenham and Murray show us why with skill and spirit – without ever putting anyone else in the shade.

Kerrie Wenham as Fiona MacKeith
and Andy Murray as Tommy Albright.

(Photo : John Davidson )

Yes there are stars, but this is still an ensemble production, with lovely performances wherever you look, not least from Bishop Luffa sixth-former Matthew Hughes-Short as Charlie Cameron.

Matthew has got presence and a voice to match. Definitely a name to look out for. And music teacher Helene Davis, another making her CAOS debut, is a charming Jean MacKeith.  

Add to the mix Kate Sissons’ gorgeous, wistful dancing; Michael Walsh’s first-class musical direction of his excellent mini-band; and a dose of jigs and sword-dancing complete with pipes; and it’s a winning production, huge credit to director Patricia Roberts, choreographer Carolyn Bennett and wardrobe mistress (and CAOS chairman) Elizabeth Peacock.

Phil Hewitt - The Chichester Observer