IT MAY be about a game of chance in Manhattan’s underbelly, but nothing was left to Lady Luck in Yarm School’s production of Guys and Dolls.

The cast took rehearsing to a whole new level, bringing in American vocal coach Heather Watts to hone their New York accents and mannerisms. And it showed in flawless performances from start to finish.

Jessica Adams, who is surely destined for West End stardom, led the 48-ensemble as the long-suffering club singer Miss Adelaide, sneezing her way through a show-stopping version of Adelaide’s Lament; “in other words, just from waiting around for that plain little band of gold, a person can develop a cold.”

She was adeptly partnered by Yazdan Qafouri Isfahani as her commitment-phobic small-time crook, fiancé of 14 years Nathan Detroit, with the pair doing vocal battle in Sue Me, as Miss Adelaide bemoans the years she’s wasted waiting for him to marry her.

Dominic Ryan was equally charismatic as the ultimately reformed gambler Sky Masterson, bringing a suitable swagger to offset Evelyn Jesuraj’s wistful, soaring vocals as his reluctant love interest, Salvation Army mission sergeant Sarah Brown.

Both pairings in the central quartet played up their relationship woes with melancholy and impeccable comedic timing.

But it’s not all about romance in what Sarah describes as “the Devil’s own city”. Sky’s brassy anthem, Luck Be A Lady and the toe-tapping You’re Rockin’ the Boat had the 750-strong audience clapping along.

Alex Dunn as Big Jule got the most laughs, bringing his own blank dice to a high-stakes craps game.

Guys and Dolls is back in the West End from March and if any understudies are needed, they need look no further than Yarm.

Such is the talent and confidence of the cast, it’s hard to remember that this is a school production.

Liz Hands