The students and staff at Queen's College (QC) surpassed all expectations with the staging of their most recent production "Guys and Dolls", a musical following a series of "Runyonland" characters, inviting the audience to witness the twists and turns of their lives.
Patrons joined the cast just as Nathan Detroit (played by Hubert Gibson) appeared to be losing his grip on the "oldest established permanent floating craps game" in New York. In order to save himself and his reputation, Detroit made a bet with Sky Masterson (Tristen Ginter), wagering Masterson's success in wooing a local Salvation Army girl, Sarah Brown (Natalie Lester), and convincing her to accompany him on a date to Havana. Detroit's interest in Masterson's love pursuits did few favors for his own, and the audience watched as his 14-year engagement to Cabaret singer, Miss Adelaide (Lauren Thompson) took a hit due to his futile attempts at keeping her demands for marriage at bay. At the toss of a die, both characters, and those beyond the fourth wall jumped on a roller coaster of love, friendship and morality.
The Comets shone in their most recent production, with the dolls delivering scene-stealing performances. Lauren Thompson gave a phenomenal performance as the south Bronx Hot Box star, Miss Adelaide. In stark contrast, Natalie Lester gave playing Sarah Brown, the straight-laced missionary, her best shot; her efforts were not in vain, the actress had the entire audience in stitches over her rendition of a drunk Sarah Brown cavorting in Havana. Her let-loose dance was the proof everyone needed that one should never judge a book by its cover.
Credit also should be given to Ginter and Gibson, who played the perfect partners in comedy. The wonderful antics of Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Karrington McKenzie) and Benny Southstreet (Joel Sweeting) rounded off the comic experience with McKenzie's version of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat."
"Guys and Dolls" director, Gregory Deane, successfully brought New York's wonderfully electric atmosphere and Havana's exotic allure to the QC stage, with help from talented set designer, Peter Angole, and music composers Karel Coleby and Benjamin Davis.

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