In my recent trip to New York, I got to watch my first Broadway show,  Guys and Dolls, and man, what an experience!

Guys and Dolls is about a man named Nathan Detroit who wanted to hold a craps game but needed a thousand dollars as rent to host the game. To pay the rent, he bets Sky Masterson the $1000 dollars that he cannot take Sarah Brown on a date. All the while, Nathan’s girlfriend Adelaide is making plans to settle down with Nathan. In the process, Sky Masterson ends up falling in love with Sarah. The rest of the show is about how Nathan and Sky end up marrying their respective loves.

One thing that especially stood out to me in this play was the makeup and costumes. All of the costumes were trendy in respect to the time period being portrayed in the play. This meant loose formals, hats, and slick hairstyles that were gelled back for men and skirts and ponytails for women. Even the makeup was perfectly done with emphasized makeup for the women. The costumes also, in addition to reflecting the time period, reflected the attitude of each character as well, with Detroit being an example of that as is his clothes showed his kindness at heart but also gave off a hint of flamboyance.

The sound is also worth a particular mention, as it was a middling aspect. The songs were fantastic as they were, and there is no better way to test this other than the fact that I was humming the songs for the next three days. However, the volume the entire play was conducted at was very troublesome. It was way too loud and from any angle of the auditorium, the excess volume could be heard. I felt this and so did my co-reviewers who also sat around the auditorium. Otherwise, dialogues fit the time period to the T and did not feel out of place and were yet understandable by today’s generation at the same time, an honorable feat. In essence, the sound was a very sore subject for me and really hindered my experience.

Lastly, the props truly deserve a place in this review for their excellent architecture. The props were created with so much care and every minute detail was taken care of. This really reflected in the play — especially the phone booth. I truly felt it was a real phone booth just plucked out of a town somewhere and put down in the middle of the stage. The props were simply the highlight of the play for me because no liberty was taken in leaving any loose ends and they were truly made to look like the real deal.

Overall, I would recommend going to this play for the youth and middle aged adults. The comedy was absolutely hilarious and was simply infused into the play rather than being forced. It was a very unique romcom of sorts and the perfectly etched out characters and the enjoyable music lend to a pleasant two and a half hour experience.