Douglas Hodge begs Jane Krakowski to spare the poor handkerchief.

Nowadays one of the easiest ways to bring in the numbers to the struggling theatre is by using stunt casting, i.e. casting big names into main roles. As I have been made to understand, purists can't stand this anymore than they can stand jukebox musicals getting acclaim, but I'm no purist. I'm just an average jane seeking to enjoy a night out at the theatre.

To make things worse, I had no idea what the history of Guys & Dolls was going in. I had only a vague idea of its lengthy backstory, courtesy of the 1955 film and the immortality of Luck be a Lady Tonight, but other than that, nada. All I knew, upon purchasing my tickets, is that Ewan McGregor would be in it. That was actually a deterrent to me; I knew that tickets would be pricey and difficult to get, but circumstances of the time dictated that I watch it. (Read: A friend dragged me along, and threatened to attack me with spoons if I didn't. What? Spoons are scary.)

In the simplest terms, Guys & Dolls is a light-hearted exaggerated 1950s rom-com. I say exaggerated in reference to this specific production, because I have listened to the Broadway recordings and the film version, and it is only in this West End production that the accents are ten glorious shades of British actors going, "You want New York accents? We'll give you New York accents!" And running away with it gleefully as revenge for all the times that Americans have exaggerated the Brits' tongue.

Guys & Dolls is essentially one big con with a goop of soft-heartedness underneath. Ewan McGregor played the part of Sky Masterson, a smooth-talking gambling man who is willing to bet on practically anything. Nathan Detroit, played Douglas Hodge, is in a situation where he needs money badly, and so he uses Sky's weakness to his advantage, suggesting a bet that where Sky has to take out high-collared Miss Sarah Brown (Jenna Russell) of the Save-a-Soul mission to dinner in Cuba. Sky takes this bet and off he goes. Nathan has problems with his own doll, Adelaide (Jane Krakowski), who is on her last tether because of Nathan's refusal to marry her.

Although certain set pieces or events seem completely unnecessary, Guys & Dolls is a fun ride of half-wickedness that doesn't promise any punches save those that will make you smile. All characters, whether primary or secondary, are likeable, even the supposed "villains". More notably is that the secondary characters get more chances to sing here than in most other mainstream musicals I've seen. Nicely-Nicely Johnson in particular gets to bring down the house with Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat. I recently managed to catch a recording of the 1992 Broadway cast performing a version of it, and the 2005 West End version takes their manic cheoreography and goes one step further, kicking up the song into ridiculous high gear using only the strength of the actors. How many musicals give a secondary character a show-stopper such as this?

Douglas Hodge was another revelation for me. I'm not familiar with him as an actor, but he holds his own in the face of Ewan and Jane's star power, giving Nathan Detroit more heart and memorability. One part that stand out particularly well (and I fear always will when I think of this song) is his take on Sue Me, the love/anti-love duet between him and Adelaide. It starts out as a bickering/begging song as the characters bounce off each other in a lengthy ritual that's old territory in which Nathan tries to bark out "I LOVE Y-!" again and again, but at the final verse, when Nathan's on his knees in front of the woman he loves, his voice dips tenderness as he goes, softly, into one final "I love you." That's the part I'll always take with me from the performance I saw.

(I've come to learn that Nathan Lane and Faith Prince played this sequence very differently in their version of the show.)

Jane Krakowski didn't disappoint either. I've always had respect for her as actress, typecasting be damned, and she played the part like she created it. Throughout almost the entire show she's playing Adelaide as having a cold, and she keeps it up through singing and speaking without hesitation. The second stripping scene, Take Back Your Mink, was a little unnecesary I thought, but what can you do. A Bushel and a a Peck (with Jane and her back-up dancers dressed as milkmaids, no less) was a hoot and a half.

Jenna Russell had the same problem as Douglas Hodge in working against the glitter of her co-star, and though I thought she did a tremendous job, the character she has to work with I found as interesting as Sandy from Grease. Nothing against her personally, it's just that the better dialogue and songs were given to others. If I Were a Bell is her moment to shine, and she does so very briefly, before being swallowed up again by the rest of the show.

Now, Ewan McGregor. I thought his Luck be a Lady was one of the best sequences of the show, and it took me by surprise, because until that moment he really didn't do much vocally. He was a playing a character that isn't much of a challenge, since charm comes easily to him, so it's there and it does it's job. Can't ask anymore of him.