T-A-O-S

When I was asked to visit Tiverton Amateur Operatic Society during w/c 19^th September 2011 I was delighted when I heard that the musical under review would be Guys and Dolls. This is one of my all-time favourite shows, probably because I’ve been fortunate to play both Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit over the years and my son played Nicely Nicely Johnson in a recent youth production, so you could say I know the show quite well!

My first impressions of visiting Tiverton AOS were very positive indeed because my wife, Liz, and I were made to feel very welcome by President John Browning and his wife. This put us in a very good mood as we took our seats. Tiverton AOS are not blessed with the best theatre I’ve ever witnessed but I have to say I was most impressed with the way the facilities available had been used to best effect. In particular I thought the way the side entrances either side of the stage had been decorated and then used throughout the show was most impressive. On the opening night there was a disappointingly small house of around 50 people and I hope for the rest of the run the show got the larger audiences it deserved.

The first impression one gets for any audience at a musical is the orchestra as they perform the overture. I have to report that the orchestra in both the overture and in Fugue for Tin Horns was a little hesitant at times and that they drowned the singing in Follow the Fold, as they did with the libretto in the Salsa scene later on. I’m pleased to report however that after this rather hesitant start, the orchestra complimented the performers very well with only one other possible relapse in the final scene. I congratulate Hilary Wickham for producing some very pleasant sounds from both the pit and from the performers for the singing throughout was very good indeed.

My first impression of the choreography was that it wasn’t always in keeping with the mood of the piece. This was evident in the overture when I felt the stage directions were often overlooked for something less relevant to the production. A Bushel and a Peck & The Oldest Established also fell into this category however I did particularly like the use of the feathers in the Take Back your Mink routine and found it rather like Chicago or Crazy for You in appearance. The company embraced Shirley’s choreography with enthusiasm throughout and this sense of enjoyment carried through to the audience and overcame any misgivings I may have had regarding relevance.

The strength of the director shone throughout this production and I congratulate Pauline Farr for this. I have to report there were a number of things with which I was most impressed and others which I thought otherwise. On the positive side little things that make such a difference were introduced throughout the production, like the way Agatha banged her tambourine after getting no response in Follow the Fold, the not saluting the flag/hats business, the long held note in Sue Me and the clever use of the wide areas Sky and Nathan in Marry the Man Today. On the other hand I thought the use of women in the crap shooting scenes was totally inappropriate (whilst I acknowledge the desire to use chorus members as much as possible), the fact that Nicely Nicely Johnson was not ‘fat’ meant much of the humour was lost, like when he said he felt a little faint and the scene where he was referred to as a fat water buffalo, and some things like Sky not placing bets during Luck be a Lady Tonight, Nicely Nicely and Benny entering the Save a Soul Mission before Sue Me (which would mean they would have been in there for the opening of the next scene instead of coming in with the rest of the guys), them not appearing during the final verse of Sue Me when Adelaide sings ‘You’re at it Again’ and Nathan’s news-stand being revealed at the beginning of the final scene rather than when he is asked to close up the news stand for the wedding were elements of detail that were not correct.