When you walk out of the theatre with a spring in your step and still humming the songs you’ve just heard, you know you’ve seen a good show.
And the classics from “Guys & Dolls” performed by the Maghull Musical Theatre Company were still on my lips when I woke up the next morning.
In fact it took days for colleagues to get me to stop warbling “Luck be a Lady Tonight” at my desk.
This was local drama presented at its very best. And it wasn’t just the performance of the actors, guesting at the Little Theatre in Southport. The show owed it’s all round success to a team that produced an imaginative and flexible set, superb on-stage technique, professional quality from the orchestra and flawless stage management.
And that was no mean feat in a very ambitious two-tier set up that gave director Betty Hall the chance to fill the space in front of us through some pretty smart stage direction.
If there was to be one slight criticism it was the pace of one or two scenes in the first act – where you couldn’t help but want to chivvy the action along a little. But maybe that’s me being over fussy.

“Guys & Dolls” is a perfect clash of cultures and values, between the loose morals of the gambling and drinking classes and the Salvation Army missionaries, desperately trying to save them from damnation.
We will come on to the lead roles in a moment, but high praise is due to the collection of hard-nosed Bronx guys and dolls, from the dancers and the ladies of the night to the gangsters and gamblers who hit it off perfectly. The accents and the body language really made them believable, roguish and somehow likeable all at the same time.
Taking centre stage were performers who could really hold an audience – and a singing note.

The lead, Sarah Brown, (played by Alexandra Holmes) is the Salvation Army ministry girl charged with the envious task of converting New York’s sinners. She had a liquid voice that captured the audience throughout. And we all felt for her as she went through the torment of deciding if she should fall for a man who would bet on a cockroach winning a race, Sky Masterton, played by Matt Casson.

But the unlikely couple were given a run for their money by the second love element in the show – dancer Miss Adelaide, played by Laura Fegan, and her “crap game” addicted lover Nathan Detroit (Les Gomersall).

There was great chemistry between the two of them on stage as we found ourselves desperately hoping that her 14-year wait for marriage would be fulfilled. Laura Fegan was perfect as the sweet, downtrodden, loving girl who inevitably won the day in the end. Les Gomersall was loveable and infuriating as the gambling fixer who would prefer to roll dice than wear a wedding ring – until he is finally tamed.

Watch out for the chance to see this talented group in future performances. It will be worth every penny.

By Jannine Yaqoob

Leo Appleton strode into his first production with Maghull Musical Theatre Company in the role of Adam, the eldest brother in the Pontipee family, commanding the stage with a booming performance and rich voice.

In 1850’s Oregon Adam tricks the beautiful Milly, perfectly played by Laura Fegan, into marrying him. She longs to leave the bustle of the town for the peace of his remote ranch in the mountains but arrives to find Adam’s six undignified younger brothers who need teaching how to behave.

Milly has one month to transform them into respectable bachelors in readiness for meeting future brides at the town social. Conflict with the townsfolk leads to the boys abducting their women. An avalanche cuts them off from the town. The long winter months find the girls deciding they don’t want to go back to town. Adam leaves home – not knowing that Milly is pregnant. He returns to see his newly-born daughter in the spring.

Wonderful voices, powerful music, colourful costumes, an array of interesting sets and a company with a wealth of talent made this show a haven of warmth on one of the worst nights, weather-wise, of the year.

The audience filed through the exit with collars up and smiles on their faces.

Score: 4/5 – a cracking night out.

By Jenny Robson