From our London Correspondent, Norm Seli:

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REVIEW: Guys and Dolls

With heartthrob Ewan MacGregor: Hey, he's good! He moves very well, sings better than Brando. Actually, he sings very well. He delivered an on pitch, energetic "Luck Be A Lady" with great energy and grace. I don't know what more you would want from him. We sat first row balcony, and could see the whole cast working. I think with a weaker cast, Mr. MacGregor would have stood out as an even better Sky Masterson, but the truth is he fit in perfectly with an very talented cast. Martyn Ellis as Nicely Nicely Johnson was so good -- it's such a great character role, and Martyn seemed to make even more of it. His "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" was better than I've ever heard! (I really didn't think of Stubby Kaye once). The energy, the clarity, the joy...I mean, who doesn't want to just rip the top off of this song -- it's just great fun -- but after hearing and seeing Mr. Ellis do it, I might just give up the dream now that I know that I couldn't do it justice.

Jenna Russell was Sarah Brown and she makes you fall in love. You cheer for her as she gets in a bar fight in Havana. You understand how a gambler could give it all up to bang a drum and beg for change. Douglas Hodge was Nathan Detroit and he, too, nailed it. Great performance, good pipes, you couldn't ask for more (although it's hard to top Nathan Lane in the Broadway Revival. Wisely, he played it less schluppy).

The choreography and staging was all good -- nothing new or particularly striking -- but, it's a classic! Everything and everyone was exactly as they should be...

With one exception.

One deliciously, wonderful exception: Jane Krakowski.

I've heard that she's good. They didn't give her a Tony Award (for Nine) by mistake...but I had no idea.

I'm in love...and that was before her wardrobe malfunction during "Take Back Your Mink" (yes, I have seen Ms. Krakowsi's breast!)

Jane took a very good classic production of Guys and Dolls and made it great! Her Adelaide was just so good...she was naive, she was sexy, she was a child, she was a woman...she was at odds with her heart and then with her mind...she was sweet -- she was steel...

I have to think that it's tough to bring life to Adelaide. The character is a caricature and the nasal Brooklyn accent is almost too comic...but not with Jane Krakowski. She was never "dumb"; she was never silly...she was believable, lovable, saucy and racy. Ms. Krakowski can dance and she can sing. I will travel great distances to see her again -- in anything! A little Julie London; a little Ann-Margret; more warmth than Kristin Chenoweth; all the intensity of Idina Menzel. I imagine seeing Gwen Verdon live would have been like it. I'm not taking anything away from Vivian Blaine -- I mean the part will always belong to her -- but Jane made it sexier and if I had to choose...

But I may be getting away from myself. I just loved Jane so...

In short: Guys and Dolls was great. A classic with good sets, good dancing, great cast including a surprisingly good pretty boy film actor and one knock-out singer/dancer/sex goddess. Where Nathan Lane took the Broadway Revival, Jane Krakowski takes the West End...

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