 WITH most Broadway musicals, there was someone who wrote the music and another who supplied the lyrics. With Guys and Dolls, Frank Loesser did it all. And what a fabulous job he did, creating some of Broadway’s best songs with some of its wittiest lyrics. This new production from the Donmar Warehouse unfortunately does not do Loesser’s songs or the play itself full justice. There are some smashing dance routines and the show looks good, but for some reason it was decided to exaggerate things. If I Were a Bell, one of Loesser’s best songs, was ruined by having Louise Dearman as Salvation Army girl Sarah Brown sing it as a drunk. Lynsey Britton playing the lovelorn Miss Adelaide had such a strong Bronx accent it was sometimes difficult to hear her. Luck Be a Lady was well overplayed with a lengthy dance routine before we got to the song and many of the clever patter songs were lost in some hammy performances. Happily, there was enough of the original show to enjoy including the classic characters from Damon Runyon – on whose stories the show was based – and Loesser’s songs can often survive even the crassest of performances. Starring in this was Popstars reality show performer Darius Danesh as gambler Sky Masterson, a performance which despite an OK voice lacked any kind of personality – he often sang looking at the audience, rather than the girl he was meant to be romancing. Danesh is also a tall chap, far too tall for Louise Dearman as love interest Sarah Brown – she must have got a crick in her neck looking up to him so often. Rather better served was Lynsey Britton, despite the accent, as a sassy Miss Adelaide who spends most of the show trying to get Nathan Detroit to the altar. He was played by Shaun Williamson ("Barry from Eastenders") and managed to deliver a jaunty performance. The New York sets are pretty good and certainly the orchestra in the pit gave the Loesser songs plenty of zip. It’s just a shame directors Michael Grandage and Jamie Lloyd felt they had to over- egg this musical pudding with exaggerated performances, songs often delivered in Mickey Mouse fashion and the wit turned into underlined gags. | 
