The show must go on is a well known saying, and often a theatre company has to overcome a raft of difficulties to make sure it does. In two weeks’ time the curtain goes up on Mill Hill Amateur Operatic Society’s (MHAOS) production of classic Broadway musical Guys & Dolls – but eight months ago, it looked like the show would never get staged as the company was hit by licence problems, cast availability and venue accessibility.

However, thanks to plenty of determination and hard work, the production will take to the stage in early April.

The show was first due to be performed in October last year, but despite the group already being two months into rehearsals, Guys & Dolls licence holders refused permission to perform Frank Loesser’s ‘50s musical, which tells the story of New York gangsters being won over by a pretty but feisty Salvation Army girl. The reason given was that a licence had already been granted to another amateur dramatic society a few miles away for the same week.

With MHAOS’s home theatre, Hartley Hall, being unavailable, it wasn’t possible to delay the show to November, so at a very late stage, the group decided to put on World War Two revue Happy As A Sandbag instead.

With Guys & Dolls rescheduled for April, the society then experienced huge problems in recasting the show, with the actors already signed up now unavailable due to family or work commitments. MHAOS committee members had to find replacement leads and male chorus members, but eventually, all four lead actors were cast – Sharon Brandelli as Sgt Sarah Brown, Clare Shah as Miss Adelaide, Ben Newhouse-Smith as Nathan Detroit, and Robert Barker as Sky Masterson.

MHAOS chairman Chris Hubbard says: “Despite experiencing a few major headaches, we’ve pulled out all the stops for this show. We’ve got great costumes, have drafted in some excellent singers and our director Robin Scarborough is inspiring great performances from our talented lead actors and enthusiastic, dedicated chorus.”

Chris says the past few months have represented “one of the darkest periods in the society’s history”.

“We’ve been going since 1954, and rarely have we had to work so hard to put on a show,” she says, “but I’m proud to say we’ve done it, and we believe this could be one of our best productions to date.

“We need local support so that we can continue to entertain audiences for years to come.”

Guys & Dolls runs from Wednesday to Saturday, April 6 to 9, at 7.30pm (matinee performance on the Saturday at 2.30pm) at Hartley Hall, Flower Lane, off The Broadway, Mill Hill. Details: 020 8959 2028/2344 or online at www.mhaos.com