Guys & Dolls - ★★★★☆ - A safe bet for a fantastic night

Nottingham Operatic Society's first crack at putting on Guys & Dolls is a roaring success, a quality production of great singing and dancing which will keep you entertained throughout.

Without doubt the strongest stars of this show are Sarah Brown (Abby Wells) and Miss Adelaide (Louise Grantham-Lang). The principled Sarah Brown weakens and grows beautifully as she is swept up by Sky, with beautiful belting vocals and the most impressive drunken dancing you'll see, while Adelaide will steal your heart, leave you laughing throughout, and somehow perform all evening with one hell of a stuffed nose! Sky Masterson (Bara Erhayiem) delivers a wonderful character, getting stronger through the night, though the vocals are not as strong or consistent as the rest of the principals especially in the duets with Sarah.

Worthy mentions for other standout characters Nicey-Nicey Johnson (Simon Theobald) who simply blows away in the wonderful rendition of Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat and makes a fantastic double act alongside the squeaky Benny Southstreet (Owen Patten), and Arvide Abernethy (Paul McPherson) who couldn't be more charming in a beautifully sung and performed More I Cannot Wish You.

The crowd and ensemble scenes are a feast with little scenes and moments playing out across the stage - you could watch these sections three times over and see something new every viewing. Director Chris Sims and Choreographer Justine Lee have done fantastic work on these scenes and the dance numbers which are beautifully layered with complex set pieces and slick group work.

There were some unfortunate technical hitches through the evening, microphones switching on late or sounding like a crackly radio - though the rare reverb effect on some of the numbers was a nice detail - and a few lighting cues that seemed a beat off - though despite the plethora of hats we never lost a face to the shadows.

Overall this is a fantastic production, no lady luck is needed to make this a success and odds are high the evening will fly by so do yourself a favour and snap up one of those empty seats.