McGregor charms critics in 'Guys and Dolls' revival
Last Updated: Thursday, June 2, 2005 | 6:04 PM ET
CBC Arts
It was McGregor's debut in a stage musical. The actor has portrayed everyone from a heroin addict in Trainspotting to a Jedi knight in the latest Star Wars movies.
Despite a fairly general consensus about the weakness of McGregor's singing voice, he appears to make up for it with his acting and dancing chops, charming both crowds and critics.
"As Sky Masterson, Ewan McGregor makes up in easy charm and seductive glamour what he lacks in vocal skills," Paul Taylor wrote in The Independent. "Guys And Dolls is such a lifter, that by the end of the show it wouldn't have mattered if McGregor's part had been sung by Darth Vader or R2D2," Quentin Letts wrote in the Daily Mail.
"If only McGregor's singing voice matched his acting and his dancing, it would be a first rate performance," wrote Guardian critic Michael Billington. "But, as I always say, musicals are about ecstasy and there are moments when this show hits the button."
The Michael Grandage production of the 1950s-era romantic comedy, about a gambling playboy's attempt to win the heart of a missionary, also stars British stage and TV actors Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell and Tony Award-winning U.S. actress Jane Krakowski
According to the critics, McGregor – who previously sang and danced in the film Moulin Rouge – delivers a passable performance of the show's famous tune Luck Be a Lady Tonight, but his vocals lack the strength of his co-stars.
"The show's biggest failure ... is its biggest star," The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer wrote. "His tight, strained voice never really lets rip on [composer Frank] Loesser's soaring numbers."
A star-studded crowd attended the opening night show at London's Piccadilly Theatre, with theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, actress Joan Collins and McGregor's Star Wars co-star Natalie Portman among those who gave the production a standing ovation.
McGregor is set to continue in the production for six months. Formerly a hit on Broadway, Guys and Dolls is scheduled to run until April 2006.
