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Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
CASTING for the much-anticipated revival of Guys and
Dolls is now complete.
Joining McGregor, Krakowski and Hodge in a principal role, will
be Jenna Russell as the Salvation Army's Sarah Brown - the girl
pursued by seasoned gambler, Sky Masterson (McGregor) to fulfil
a bet.
The cast will also feature Martyn Ellis (as Nicely Nicely Johnson),
Niall Buggy, Gaye Brown and Sevan Stephan.
Music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser and includes such classics
as I've Never Been In Love Before, Luck Be A Lady, Sit Down
You're Rockin' the Boat and, of course, the title song itself.
Order
tickets now
PREVIOUSLY POSTED: JOINING Ewan McGregor in
Guys And Dolls when it opens at the Piccadilly
Theatre on June 1, 2005 (previews from May 19), will be Jane Krakowski
and Douglas Hodge.
In this, her West End debut, Krakowski will play Miss Adelaide,
the long-suffering girlfriend of gambler, Nathan Detroit (Hodge).
Although probably best known as the man-hungry Elaine in TV's
Ally McBeal, Krakowski is certainly no stranger to stage.
In fact, had it not been for a starring role opposite Antonio
Banderas in the Broadway musical, Nine - for which, incidentally,
she won a 2003 Tony Award - her West End debut would have been
in the black comedy, Fuddy Meers, back in 2002.
She has also appeared on Broadway in Once Upon A Mattress,
Starlight Express and Grand Hotel, and was recently
seen in cinemas in Alfie,
with British actor, Jude Law.
Douglas Hodge is also well-acquainted with theatre, having appeared
in major productions of Harold Pinter's works - The Lover,
Betrayal, No Man's Land and The Caretaker.
He was seen most recently, in Three Sisters (opposite
Kristen Scott Thomas) and Dumb Show at the Royal Court.
His TV credits include, Red Cap and Middlemarch.
Previously Posted: ALTHOUGH a venue and exact
dates have yet to be finalised, it's now been confirmed that Scottish
screen star, Ewan McGregor, will make his musical stage debut
in next year's revival of Guys and Dolls.
McGregor previously appeared on stage, in 1999, in the Hampstead
Theatre production of Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against
the Eunuchs, which transferred to the West End.
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His screen credits, though, are impressive
and include the highly successful Star
Wars, Black Hawk Down,
Little Voice, A Life Less Ordinary and Shallow Grave.
Not forgetting, of course, Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film, Moulin
Rouge, in which he first demonstrated his singing and
dancing skills.
PREVIOUSLY POSTED: TWO WEST End giants, The
Ambassador Theatre Group and Donmar Warehouse, are set to co-produce
one of the all-time classic musicals, Loesser and Burrow's Guys
and Dolls.
The new version, the first of its kind for 23 years, will be
directed by Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director, Michael Grandage
who has expressed 'enormous privilege' at his involement in the
project, adding 'it presents an exciting opportunity for the Donmar
to develop its work and style in a larger theatre space'.
The Donmar can, in fact, seat only 250.
Based on Damon Runyan's 'The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown', Guys
and Dolls was originally meant to be a serious romance. However,
after casting Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows in the principal roles,
it seemed more fitting as a comedy.
It's the story of a group of 'loveable' New York gamblers and
the bet taken by one of them - that he can make the next girl
he sees fall in love with him.
And, as luck, or otherwise, would have it, she just happens to
be a pure and righteous member of the Salvation Army.
Could it be then, that opposites DO attract?
Guys and Dolls comes with a celebrated record. After
the original Broadway run of 1,200 performances way back in 1950,
it was followed, five years later, by the highly successful film,
which starred Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.
More recently, in 1982, Bob Hoskins and Julia McKenzie and later,
in '96, Clive Rowe and Imelda Staunton, headed the respective
casts of the National Theatre productions, the former under the
direction of Richard Eyre.
Howard Panter of ATG has also expressed his enthusiasm for the
project.
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