Guys and Dolls

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Guys And Dolls is a successful 1950 musical. It had a long run on Broadway (1200 performances) and was filmed in 1955 starring Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons (debuted on November 3, 1955). The words and music were written by Frank Loesser and the book was by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.

It is based upon "The Idyll Of Miss Sarah Brown", a short story by Damon Runyon.

The Musical numbers

  • "Fugue for Tinhorns" (Opening trio: "I got a horse right here...")
  • "Follow the Fold" (the Mission hymn)
  • "The Oldest Established" ("...Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York")
  • "I'll Know" ("...when my love comes along")
  • "A Bushel and a Peck" (not in the film)
  • "Pet Me Poppa" (a production number for Adelaide added for the film)
  • "Adelaide's Lament" ("A person could develop a cold")
  • (Havana dance number)
  • "Guys and Dolls" ("When you see a guy reach for stars in the sky, you can bet that he's doing it for some doll...")
  • "If I Were a Bell"
  • "More I Cannot Wish You" (a sentimental Irish song, not in the film)
  • "My Time of Day" (a bluesy chromatic ballad, not in the film) (Susan Loesser called it "an odd, frequently modulating medlody. You won't walk out of the theatre humming this one... My father always loved this song, and so do I. It's a love song to my father's city and to the hours that belonged to him, when he would rise at 4:00 a.m. and write, and pace, and smoke, and doodle, and scheme, and contemplate the romance business.")
  • "I've Never Been in Love Before" (not in the film)
  • "A Woman In Love" (added for the film)
  • "Take Back Your Mink" (the classic night club production number for Adelaide)
  • "Adelaide" (added for the film)
  • "Sue Me" (Duet)
  • (Crapshooters' ballet)
  • "Luck Be a Lady"
  • "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" (production number for the gamblers at the Mission)
  • "Marry the Man Today" (not in the film)

Broadway Production

The show opened at the 46th Street Theatre on November 24th, 1950.

CAST:

  • Robert Alda as Sky Masterson
  • Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide
  • Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit
  • Isabel Bigley as Sister Sarah Brown
  • Pat Rooney as Arvide Abernathy
  • B. S. Pully as Big Jule
  • Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely Johnson
  • Tom Pedi as Harry The Horse
  • Johnny Silver as Benny Southstreet

London Production

The show opened at the Coliseum on May 28, 1953 and ran for 555 performances.

CAST:

  • Jerry Wayne as Sky Masterson
  • Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide
  • Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit
  • Lizbeth Webb as Sister Sarah Brown
  • Ernest Butcher as Arvide Abernathy
  • Lew Herbert as Big Jule
  • Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely Johnson
  • Tom Pedi as Harry The Horse
  • Johnny Silver as Benny Southstreet

Goldwyn movie production 1955

The movie version was directed by Joseph Mankiewicz.

CAST:


Revivals

Guys and Dolls has been performed all over the globe.

  • A revival in 1976 featured an all-black cast and Motown-style musical arrangements by Danny Holgate and Horace Ott.
  • A 1992 revival, starring Josie de Guzman as Sarah Brown and Peter Gallagher as Sky Masterson, but with Nathan Lane and Faith Prince stealing the show as the perennially-engaged Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide, ran for nearly three years (1143 performances) and rewrote the standard for Guys and Dolls, with a crack orchestra (Edward Strauss, conductor) that outperformed the original pit band. The recording is a rival for definitive with the (re-mastered) original cast recording.

References

  • Susan Loesser (1993): A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life. Donald I. Fine, New York.
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