An exhilarating immersive production of Guys & Dolls has opened at the Bridge Theatre with staging that will blow your mind. Nicholas Hytner and Bunny Christie’s gamble on this ambitious production has definitely paid off!

Frank Loesser’s classic musical is a story of romance and gambling in 1920s America, following Nathan Detroit as he attempts to find a spot to host his infamous crap games. Needing some money to fund this, he places a bet with gambler Sky Masterson he thought he couldn’t lose – to take the leader of the Save a Soul Mission, Sarah Brown, to dinner in Havana. At the same time, he is trying to hide his illegal activities from Adelaide, his fiancé of 14 years, as she is determined to make a good man of him and finally tie the knot.

Marisha Wallace is a born leading lady, and her vocals are out of this world. Her fiery chemistry as Adelaide alongside Daniel Mays as Nathan Detroit creates many fun moments throughout the show, both finding a depth to these characters that I have never seen explored before. Celinde Schoenmaker’s beautiful and warm tones to her vocals have never failed to give me shivers. Her portrayal of Sarah is absolutely perfection, and she finds humour in moments I have never seen before for this character.

She shares multiple duets with Andrew Richardson (Sky Masterson) who easily captures the attention of the audience with his playful demeanour. They make it so easy to become invested in their developing relationship. And of course, Cedric Neal (Nicely-Nicely Johnson) brings the house down with his rendition of “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” (and it’s seemingly continuous encores which the crowd go wild for). The Mission may have been trying to save these sinner’s souls, but my soul was saved by Cedric Neal’s powerhouse vocals. Basically what I’m saying here is that this casting is utterly flawless.

There are two types of tickets you can choose for this show – standing and seated. The stage is in-the-round and the seated tickets offer you a traditional view of the show in this format. However, if you think you can stand for the almost 3 hour long show, it is definitely a unique experience worth having! You will be right in the middle of all the action, as you’re ushered around by the ‘police officers’ depending on which sections of the stage will rise and fall next.

Because… that’s the thing… this stage is moving! The incredible set design by Bunny Christie puts you right onto the streets of New York City, with a stunningly well-choreographed series of rising and falling platforms around the floor area where the standing audience is located. This obviously creates a lot of challenges, but the ushers and stage management are brilliant in ensuring the audience’s safety as all this action takes place.

I’ve seen Guys and Dolls at it’s previous revival at the Phoenix Theatre and, whilst I adore Frank Loesser’s score, it never stood out to me as anything special. The creatives for the Bridge Theatre production have utilised the versatile space at their disposal in an ingenious way to create an experience that audiences will be discussing for years to come!