To settle a bet, high roller Sky Masterson pursues straight-laced Sergeant Sarah Brown, only to fall head over heels for his unlikely love. It’s time to roll the dice and fall in love under the bright lights of New York city! ‘Luck be a lady tonight!’
Actor Dafydd Emyr tells the Artiscape about his new role in Sheffield Theatres production of Guys and Dolls which opens on 12 December.
He returns to Sheffield Theatres to play Big Jule – “I first came to Sheffield in 2004 to play Danny’s father in Roald Dahl’s Danny The Champion of the World and I was here for a week at the Lyceum and had an absolute ball,” says Emyr.
“Sheffield is such a warm, welcoming and vibrant city. When I was offered Kiss Me Kate at the iconic Crucible last year I jumped at the opportunity.” It was while working on Kiss me Kate he tells us, that he met with the “wonderful Rob Hastie” who offered him the role of Big Jule in his production of Guys and Dolls this year.
How is Emyr preparing for this role?
“Research-wise, the first thing I did was to invest in a DVD of the classic film Guys and Dolls starring Sinatra, Brando, Simmons and Blaine,” he tells us. “What a gloriously illuminating and entertainingly languid Sunday afternoon that was!” adds Emyr.
“As a native of Anglesey, North Wales, expressions like “snake eyes”, “box cars” and “praying tomato” are very alien and so I have had to learn their meanings and significance,” says Emyr. “I still find it remarkable that a “doll” or a “broad” lady is also referred to as a “tomato”!”
Along with this he has done a lot of internet research on the musical and is currently reading a short story by Damon Runyon. Guys and Dolls is a musical based on two stories by Damon Runyon, an American newspaperman and short-story writer from late 19th early 20th century. He was known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era.
“I have also done some background reading on the gangster underworld of Chicago since Big Jule is a threatening native of the Windy City and needless to say I am working hard on the Chicago dialect”, he adds.
So tell us about this Big Jule who you play?
“Big Jule is an intimidating hustler and gangster. He is a temperamental and violent bad loser!” he tells us “I have played a few bad guys in my time but none maybe as overtly aggressive, vicious and unyielding as Big Jule but because of his vehement tenacity he is also, unbeknown to him, quite comic.”
What does he think are the challenges in playing this character?
“I think the real challenges in playing Big Jule is that I keep the man “real” and grounded, says Emyr. “He is a larger than life character and in view of the fact that he is so obsessively blinkered with winning money at crap and threatening everyone around him he could turn into a one-dimensional caricature on stage. I daren’t let that happen!!”
Finally we asked Emyr what he thinks the audience will take away this production?
He believes the audience will be “thrilled” with this production. “The abundance and wealth of varying talent is so impressive – from those responsible for the staging, the lighting, the sound, the acting, the music and the singing adorned with sparkling dance routines and choreography,” says Emyr “all in wonderful costumes…all of this will breathe celebratory life into this great classic.”
This spectacular musical comedy is a high energy riot of breathtaking dance and features all-time favourites Luck be a Lady, Guys and Dolls and the irresistible Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.
Sat 7 Dec 2019 – Sat 18 Jan 2020
Venue CRUCIBLE THEATRE
