Guys and Dolls at Frinton Summer Theatre, Frinton - on - Sea*****

As a theatre reviewer I’m ashamed to say I’ve never seen Guys and Dolls.

But the well known critic sitting next to me, who was able to compare this new show with the many versions he had seen, applauded enthusiastically, shouted bravo on several occasions and, of actress and singer Janie Dee’s debut as a director, said she’d ‘unlocked it in a very lovely way’. Need I say more!

Well yes, because there is so much to commend this. Everything, in fact.

Every other theatre goer must know that this story is set in a world of gamblers and hustlers where good wins over evil and love conquers all.

Frinton Summer Theatre’s venue couldn’t be further from the crap joints of 50s New York. A Big Top beside the sea normally only means one thing. A circus. And the vibrancy of Dee’s fast-paced production sits well in the space, with even a nod to acrobatics when one of the main characters sings while hanging upside-down on a hoop!

But while we may be beside the seaside with this Guys and Dolls, this show is West End quality.

Dee has been at the top of her game as an actress and singer for a long, long time, and it shows in the way she brings out the best in her actors and the story they are telling, while Tracy Collier’s choreography is slick and entertaining.

There are many moments worthy of mention: Lenny Turner as Sky Masterson and Isabella Gervais as missionary Sarah Brown’s sweet rendition of I’ve Never Been in Love Before; an unexpectedly moving More I Cannot Wish You from Clive Brill’s Arvide Abernathy; the transformation of the stage for Guy and Sarah’s dinner date in Havana, and the music and dancing which accompanied it. and Jack McCann’s rousing Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat brought the house down and went into a deserved encore.

But the star of the show is the yet undiscovered Josephina Ortiz Lewis. As nightclub star Miss Adelaide she has been engaged to illegal crap game organiser Nathan Detroit (Fabian Soto Pacheco) for 14 years, but Ortiz Lewis commands the role of an older woman with aplomb, while her youthful freshness, natural talent for comedy and wondrous singing voice has the audience spellbound from the moment she walks on stage. Her routines with the Hot Box dancers and comic numbers like Sue Me with Pacheco are worthy highlights.

Will audiences love this show? I bet on my life they will!

Image: Josephina Ortiz Lewis, right, and Isabella Gervais by Christian Davies Photography

Guys and Dolls is at Frinton Summer Theatre, Greensward Big Top Tent, Frinton-on-Sea until September 6. www.frintonsummertheatre.org