Synopsis

Although the book on which Guys and Dolls is based was written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows the original story was written by one of the most elusive figures in popular literature, Damon Runyon.  He was a small-town boy born in Manhattan, Kansas in 1880 and was the son of an itinerant drunkard, gambler and printer.  As Runyon spent most of his life in the wake of hoods and hoodlums it is hardly surprising that most of the characters in "Guys and Dolls" were drawn from life.  Indeed it was said that the reason Runyon had so many contradictions in his life was that he turned a blind eye to some of the immoralities of his friends and acquaintances which was born of an artistic need.  In other words without associating with the underworld where would his fictional raw material come from and above all where would he find his characters?  One of Runyon's comments when writing his stories was "To hell with plots, because nobody remembers much about the plots of Dickens and Mark Twain, they remember the chracters."  Whether Dickens or Twain would have agreed with this comment is another matter!!

The main two male characters in "Guys and Dolls" were almost certainly based on two real-life people.  Sky Masterson was drawn from the life of Bat Masterson a one-time sheriff of Dodge City and Nathan Detroit owes his character to the colourful gambler and cabaret partner of Jimmy Durante, Loy Clayton.  Angie the Ox and Harry the Horse we also based on two real life gangsters.  It is less clear where Sarah Brown originated, but is has been suggested that Miss Adelaide  was derived from a friend of Runyon's call Miss Cutie Singleton who apparently had her wedding postponed several times due to her fiance always blowing the money for the ring on gambling! 

Runyon never knew that "Guys and Dolls" became a musical as he died in 1946.  It was not until 1948 that Feur and Martin tried to produce the show after engaging two librettists named Swerling and Burrows.  The original libretto was not entirely a success and it was only when Frank Loesser became involved by writng the that the show was actually completed as Loesser had virtually done the libretto himself by the very nature of the songs.  In 1955 "Guys and Dolls" was made into a film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.  It remainsever-popular today and does not seem to date unlike other shows of this kind.  The songs range from ballads such as "I'll know " to the fast and exciting "Luck be a Lady tonight" with the delightful songs by the adenoidal Miss Adelaide tucked in between.  Perhaps it is this blend of music blended with Runyon's real-life characters that gives "Guys and Dolls" its special magic.

WHATEVER IT IS, WE'LL LAY YOU EIGHT-TO-FIVE  THAT YOU'LL ENJOY THE SHOW!

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Cast list (In order of appearance)

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Producers Note

"Guys and Dolls" has always been one of my favourite musicals ever since I saw it twelve years ago at the National Theatre.   I was delighted to be asked to produce it as our Autumn for 1998.  It is not an easy show to stage, firstly you need lots of men.  It is also biased towards good male chorus numbers with a limited amount of female non dancing chorus.  Bearing this in mind I have tried to involve as many different people in as many different scenes as possible, including the introduction of singers at the Hot Box and the doubling of the Mission Band size.  I have been appreciative of the patience of those who have had more than their fair share of "waiting" during rehearsals.

About a month after taking on the production of this show my wife fell pregnant with twins.  At this point I realised I had to share some of the workload and I asked for assistance from Cyndy, Jacky and my Dad in taking over the direction of various scenes and the choreography of certain dances, for this I am extremely grateful.

In the past few years the committee has been working to make your whole evening enjoyable, hence the appearance of cushions for your seats.  Next year we are hoping to introduce alcoholic drinks before the start and during the interval.  I hope you enjoy our production of "Guys and Dolls"!!

Steven Mitchell

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