Guys and Dolls (Concert Version)
Frank Loesser's celebrated musical comedy about rolling the dice and falling in love under the bright lights of Broadway.
Show Essentials
12
Roles
+ Ensemble
PG
Rated
2
Acts

Full Synopsis

Act One

After the overture, the curtain rises on a bustling street scene alive with Times Square characters: sightseeing tourists and their guide, teenaged girls in bobby socks with autograph books, street vendors selling apples and flowers from a tray, a heavyweight prize-fighter with his manager, assorted street hustlers, pickpockets and policemen ("Runyonland"). Three gamblers – Benny Southstreet, Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Rusty Charlie – enter, reading aloud the daily horse-race scratch sheet. They trade tips about different horses ("Fugue for Tinhorns").

As the gamblers finish their pitch, Sergeant Sarah Brown and the Mission Band enter playing a hymn ("Follow the Fold"). Sarah delivers a street-corner sermon on the evils of gambling, inviting all sinners to visit the Save-a-Soul Mission and repent before it's too late. Nicely-Nicely and Benny observe that Sarah is wasting her good looks on Mission work. They are joined by Harry the Horse, another gambler. He asks if a location has been found for the floating crap game run by Nathan Detroit. Nathan has had trouble finding locations for his crap game because of increased pressure from the police, particularly Lieutenant Brannigan. Brannigan appears, also looking for Nathan, who soon enters. After Brannigan leaves, Nathan mentions that he needs $1,000 to secure Joey Biltmore's garage for the game. Nathan is so broke that he doesn't even have money to buy an engagement anniversary present for Miss Adelaide, his fiancée of fourteen years. Adelaide, a performer at the Hot Box Club, doesn't approve of Nathan's gambling activities. Nathan, Benny and Nicely sing about their frustration at possibly losing a chance to make lots of money from the game ("The Oldest Established").

Angie the Ox, another gambler, mentions that Sky Masterson is in town and could surely supply the money needed for the garage. Nathan knows Sky will bet on almost anything and he comes up with a way to trick Sky out of the needed funds. He sends Benny to Mindy's restaurant to find out how much strudel and cheesecake were sold the previous day. Adelaide (who seems to have a perpetual cold) enters with three other women from the club and gives Nathan his anniversary present just as Benny returns with the numbers on the strudel and cheesecake. Sky enters, and Nathan tells Benny and Nicely to take Adelaide to a drugstore for cold medicine. Nathan proposes a $1,000 bet to Sky about which sells more at Mindy's: strudel or cheesecake. Sky, suspecting the bet is not on the level, won't take Nathan up on it. Nicely and Benny return and tell him that Adelaide expects Nathan to pick her up after the show. Sky, a confirmed bachelor, suggests that Adelaide has trapped Nathan. When Nathan asks why Sky is traveling to Havana alone, Sky says he could get any woman he chooses to go with him. Nathan bets Sky $1,000 that Nathan can pick a woman that Sky can't convince to go. Sky accepts. Nathan points to Sarah Brown as the Mission Band passes by.

The Mission Band enters the Save-a-Soul Mission after a night of preaching on Broadway. Sky enters and presents himself as a gambler eager for redemption. When Sarah offers him pamphlets, he suggests that she give him personal help over dinner. She declines the offer. Sky impresses Sarah with his knowledge of the Bible, gleaned from years of living in hotels with the Gideon Bible close at hand. Noting the absence of sinners in the Mission, Sky proposes a trade: he will give Sarah his marker, an IOU guaranteeing to fill the Mission with twelve sinners... if Sarah agrees to have dinner with him in his favorite restaurant, which happens to be in Havana. She indignantly throws the marker in the trash and asks him to leave. Sky accuses Sarah of hating men, a charge that she denies. Sky asks her to describe the man of her dreams. She tells him that she'll know when the right man comes around ("I'll Know"). Sky tells her that he, too, will know when the right woman comes along. Their song ends in a kiss. The mood is broken immediately as Sarah slaps Sky.

Nathan phones Joey Biltmore to tell him the $1,000 for the garage is all but guaranteed. Joey reminds him the money is due in advance.

At the Hot Box, Adelaide and the chorus girls perform a musical number ("A Bushel and a Peck"). After the show, she tells Nathan that she is getting a raise and suggests that they finally get married. She shows him the wedding veil she has had for the past three years. She also explains how she has told her mother that Nathan and she are married and have five children. As Nathan offers reasons why they shouldn't get married, one of the other dancers arrives and complains to Nathan that her date has been cancelled because of his crap game. Adelaide gets one of her chronic sneezing attacks as Nathan rushes off. She picks up a medical book that explains how her cold symptoms are psychosomatic and caused by her frustration at being engaged – not married! – for fourteen years ("Adelaide's Lament").

Benny and Nicely have been watching Sky follow Sarah and the Mission Band. They hope that Sky fails in his attempts to take her to Havana so Nathan will get the cash to hold the crap game. They observe that men the world over have a weakness for falling in love ("Guys and Dolls").

Sarah and the Band return to the Mission. Arvide Abernathy, Sarah's grandfather and the bass drum player of the band, encourages her to pay some attention to Sky. General Cartwright, the head of the Save-a-Soul Mission, arrives and explains that the Broadway Mission's poor performance in attracting sinners is forcing her to close the branch. Sky appears and protests the closing of the Mission. He also retrieves his marker from the trash and gives it back to Sarah. She then guarantees the General that there will be twelve "genuine" sinners in the Mission the following evening.

All the craps shooters, including Big Jule (a very tough, gun-toting gangster from Chicago), are wearing red carnations as they're the badge of entry for the game... which still has no location. Brannigan appears and, noticing all the red carnations, asks Nathan what is going on. Benny sees Adelaide coming over with some of the other Hot Box dancers and tells Brannigan the carnations are for the guests of Nathan's bachelor party. Adelaide hears this and excitedly announces that they should get married the following night after her show. As Adelaide rushes off with her girlfriends, Nathan tells Benny that he still has not received the money from Sky. Benny wonders if Sky actually took Sarah to Havana.

Sarah and Sky are in Havana. Faced with constantly blaring mambo music and dancing couples ("Havana"), Sky and Sarah escape the noisy nightclub and end up at the fashionable Hotel Nacionale, where Sarah orders a ham sandwich. After a bit of sightseeing, they end up in a street café. Sarah orders a milk shake, which Sky translates to the waiter as "Dulce de Leche," a potent alcoholic drink. After several drinks, Sarah jealously interrupts when a dancer flirts with Sky, precipitating a huge barroom brawl.

Sky has carried Sarah away from the brawl. As he sets her down, she kisses him. He asks her how she feels. She tells him that she feels wonderful ("If I Were a Bell") and falls into his arms. Realizing that he is falling in love with her, a guilty Sky tells her about the bet he made. "How else would a girl get to meet a gambler?" she responds. She reluctantly allows him to take her back to New York.

Outside the Mission at 4:00 AM, Sky and Sarah run into Adelaide, who is returning from a bridal shower that has been thrown for her by the Hot Box dancers. Sky explains to Sarah that 4:00 AM is his favorite time of day, and that she is the only woman with whom he has ever wanted to share it ("My Time of Day"). After revealing to her that his real name is Obediah Masterson, Sky and Sarah sing to each other about their newfound love ("I've Never Been in Love Before"). At the end of the song, they are met by Arvide, who is returning from a night of Mission work. As they are talking, police bells are heard. Suddenly, Benny, Nicely, Nathan and the other gamblers run out of the Mission, being chased by Brannigan; Nathan has held the crap game in the Mission. Sarah is convinced that Sky's trip to Havana was part of Nathan's plan all along and angrily breaks off with him.

Act Two

Adelaide and the other dancers perform another number at the Hot Box Club ("Take Back Your Mink"). After the number, Sky enters and is approached by Nicely, who is looking for Adelaide. He has been sent to tell her that Nathan won't be coming to get her after the show. Nicely tells Sky that Nathan is still at the game because Big Jule, who is losing, won't allow the game to end until he wins back his money. Adelaide arrives and, after hearing Nicely's message, realizes that Nathan is still running the crap game. She asks Sky to tell Nathan that she never wants to see him again ("Adelaide's Lament – Reprise").

Sarah, angry that she is in love with Sky and convinced that he helped set up the Mission crap game, tells Arvide that she wants to leave. Arvide sings about his dreams for her future ("More I Cannot Wish You"). Sky and Nicely pass by on their way to the crap game. Sky tells Sarah and Arvide that he intends to honor his IOU to Sarah. He and Nicely open a manhole cover and descend to the crap game that is being held in the sewer.

The game is proceeding furiously ("The Crapshooters' Dance"). At the end of the dance, Big Jule again demands that they all stay until he wins back the money he has lost (and then some) and uses his gun to back up the demand. He announces that he will play with Nathan only, using his own dice – which are conveniently blank so that only Jule can call the outcome of each throw – so Nathan is bound to lose. Jule also announces that he will play his IOUs against Nathan's cash. When Sky and Nicely appear at the game, Sky tries to talk to the gamblers about the Mission. Big Jule protests, and Sky  knocks him down with one swift punch. Sky grabs Big Jule's gun and tosses it to Nathan. He then proposes a bet on one throw of the dice: if he loses, Sky will pay each gambler $1,000... but, if he wins, each gambler has to show up at the Mission for the meeting taking place that night. The gamblers all take up Sky's bet. As Sky prepares to throw the dice, he prays to Lady Luck for help ("Luck Be a Lady Tonight").

Harry the Horse and Big Jule complain about having to go to the Mission. Nathan sees Adelaide, who angrily tells him that she has told her mother they are expecting their sixth child. Nathan tells her that they can't get married before midnight because he has to go to a Mission meeting. Adelaide complains about all of Nathan's lies as he professes his love ("Sue Me").

At a few minutes past midnight, all of the gamblers enter the Mission to the surprise of Sarah Brown and the delight of General Abernathy. At the General's request for testimonies, various gamblers tell how they're sorry that Sky won his bet. The testimonies continue as Nicely recounts a dream that he had about being on a boat to heaven ("Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). After the song, Nathan confesses to Sarah about his bet with Sky, explaining that Sky admitted to losing the bet. Sarah is puzzled by Nathan's statement, since Sky actually won his bet. She exits the Mission as the General begins to lead the gamblers in a hymn ("Follow the Fold – Reprise").

Sarah and Adelaide meet on the street in the early morning and commiserate about Sky and Nathan. They come to the conclusion that they should just concentrate on getting married and worry about changing their men afterward ("Marry the Man Today").

Adelaide appears in a wedding gown and calls for Nathan, who now operates a newsstand. He emerges from the stand in an elegant cut-away and tells her that he hasn't yet found a place for their wedding. The Mission Band enters, led by Sky and Sarah, and Nathan asks them if he and Adelaide could get married in the Mission. Arvide, who has already performed the marriage ceremony for Sky and Sarah, promises to do the same for them. When Adelaide details her plans for a little place in the country, Nathan lets out a huge sneeze ("Guys and Dolls – Reprise").

Casting
← Back to Guys and Dolls (Concert Version)
Cast Size: Medium (11 to 20 performers)
Cast Type: Ensemble Cast
Dance Requirements: Standard

Character Breakdown

Nicely-Nicely Johnson

Just like his name suggests, he is the nicest and cheeriest of the gambling crooks. High-spirited and a bit naïve, but sincere and genuine. Nathan's loyal friend and lackey.

Gender: male
Age: 30 to 45
Vocal range top: B5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Benny Southstreet

Nathan's right-hand man and a gambler himself. Smart, slick, always moving and shaking, but with what he thinks are Nathan's best interest at heart.

Gender: male
Age: 30 to 45
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Sarah Brown

A pretty, bright-eyed woman who serves as Sergeant of the local Mission. She fully believes in her worthy cause and wishes to convert the gambling sinners to saints. Falls unexpectedly in love with Sky along the way. She is prudish and uptight, but eventually lets go.

Gender: female
Age: 20 to 30
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: B3
Arvide Abernathy

The bass drum and cymbal player in the Mission band, he is Sarah's loving grandfather. Wise and sweet, he wants nothing but the best for her.

Gender: male
Age: 50 to 65
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Harry The Horse

A crook and gambler. He is a tough guy with dollar signs as his bottom line. Brings Big Jule into Nathan's craps game and backs his cheating, but is also a man of his word in the gambling community.

Gender: male
Age: 35 to 55
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Lt. Brannigan

A New York police officer who is on to Nathan's illegal craps games and is dead-set on catching him. A tough, no-nonsense character.

Gender: male
Age: 40 to 55
Nathan Detroit

A good-hearted gambler and craps game organizer who could never hit the bigtime. He loves Adelaide, but cannot quit his gambling ways. A broke schemer with unwitting ways.

Gender: male
Age: 35 to 45
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Miss Adelaide

 

Nathan's fiancé and a lead performer at the Hot Box nightclub. She loves Nathan more than anything in the world and desperately wants to get married. Pretty, outspoken, stubborn.

Gender: female
Age: 25 to 35
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Sky Masterson

A high-stakes gambler whose luck never seems to run out, and a wild card who surprises himself when he falls in love with the unlikeliest of women. Suave, smart, handsome.

Gender: male
Age: 35 to 45
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: B3
Big Jule
A big time craps player from Chicago who uses a gun and his own pair of rigged dice to bully his way into never losing. Tough looking. A bit of an oaf.
Gender: male
Age: 30 to 50
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Ensemble

Sightseers, Mission Band (Agatha, Calvin, Martha), Crap Shooters (Liver Lips Louie, Angie The Ox, Rusty Charlie), Hot Box Girls, Waiters, Cuban Dancers

Gender: any
Full Song List
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Overture
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Runyonland
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Fugue For Tinhorns
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Follow The Fold
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): The Oldest Established
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): I'll Know
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): A Bushel And A Peck
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Adelaide's Lament
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Guys And Dolls
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Havana
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): If I Were A Bell
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): My Time Of Day
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Take Back Your Mink
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): More I Cannot Wish You
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): More I Cannot Wish You
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): The Crapshooters' Dance
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Luck Be A Lady
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Sue Me
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat
Guys and Dolls (Concert Version): Marry The Man Today

Show History

Inspiration

Producers, Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, conceived Guys and Dolls as an adaptation of author, Damon Runyon's, short stories. These stories centered on the underground crime scene of the 1920s and 1930s, utilizing a unique dialect that combines formal language with modern slang. The book takes its plot mainly from two of Runyon's stories, The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown and Blood Pressure, although they also took some elements from Pick the Winner.

Initially, Jo Swerling was hired to write the book, but they later brought in radio comedy writer, Abe Burrows, to write a new version. Burrows faced the unique challenge of having to write his plot around Frank Loesser's already-established songs.

Productions

Guys and Dolls, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, premiered at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway on November 24, 1950. It was directed by playwright, George S. Kaufman, and starred Robert Alda (father of Alan Alda) as Sky.  The production ran for 1,200 performances. The New York City Center also mounted limited engagements of the musical in 1955, 1965 and 1966.

In 1976, it enjoyed its first Broadway revival; a reimagining of the show with an all-black cast. It featured new musical arrangements in the style of Motown and was under the supervision of book writer, Abe Burrows. It ran from July 21, 1976, to February 13, 1977. Another extremely successful revival was mounted in 1992, starring Nathan Lane, Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince. The most recent revival ran from March 1, to June 14, 2009, and featured Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham.

The musical has received a significant amount of play in England. The West End premiere of the musical was on May 28, 1953, at the London Coliseum. In 1982, there was a major revival at the National Theatre with brassier orchestrations and larger-scale dance numbers. It opened on March 9, 1982, and became a smash hit, running for nearly four years and breaking box office records. It closed in late 1983 to make way for another show, but returned to the National Theatre for five months in 1984 before going on a national tour. After the tour, it moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre, where it ran from June 1985 to April 1986. Two more successful revivals in London happened in 1996 and 2005; the latter originally starred Ewan McGregor, Jane Krakowski and Douglas Hodge, running for almost two years with a plan to transfer to Broadway.

Alhough the musical has seen its greatest popularity in New York and London, it has spurned major productions all over the world. Also, in August of 2009, a concert version was produced at the Hollywood Bowl in California that featured Scott Bakula, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ellen Greene and Jessica Biel.

Cultural Influence

  • Loesser's songs have received significant coverage as singles in the pop world. "A Bushel and a Peck" reached #6 on the Billboard charts with a cover by Perry Como and Betty Hutton. Miles Davis arranged "If I Were a Bell" into a very popular jazz standard used by many different musicians. Frank Sinatra turned "Luck Be a Lady" into a signature song, and "I've Never Been in Love Before" has been covered by everyone from Doris Day and Bobby Darin to Chet Baker and Barbra Streisand.
  • The musical has been used in various capacities throughout movies and television. Those range from parodies of the title for titles of television episodes to the use of the music in pieces like: Mrs. Doubtfire, "The Cosby Show," "Glee," "The Simpsons" and "NCIS." Many television commercials have also used Frank Sinatra's version of "Luck Be a Lady."

Trivia

  • Laurence Olivier once showed an interest in playing Nathan Detroit and helped plan a revival of the musical at his National Theatre Company but, due to his poor health, the revival never went forward.
  • The character of Miss Adelaide was created specifically for actress, Vivian Blaine, as the creators loved her but thought she was not right for the role of Sarah.
  • A film adaptation of Guys and Dolls was released in 1955 that starred Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine.
     
  • The original production of Guys and Dolls got what might be the most unanimously ecstatic reviews in Broadway history. The year it opened, it received a record-breaking one million dollars for the motion picture rights.
  • Kept from the wrestling team because of a knee injury, a teenaged Tom Cruise auditioned and won the role of Nathan Detroit in his Glen Ridge, NJ, high school production of Guys and Dolls... and so began his acting career.

Critical Reaction

"In all departments, Guys and Dolls is a perfect musical comedy.... The book is a work of easy and delightful humor. Its music and lyrics, by Frank Loesser, are so right for the show and so completely lacking in banality, that they amount to an artistic triumph."
– Daily News

"One of the funniest and melodious shows in seasons. Everything about it seems practically perfect."
– Variety

"Mr. Loesser's lyrics and songs have the same affectionate appreciation of the material as the book, which is funny without being self-conscious or mechanical."
– The New York Times

"Guys and Dolls is just what it should be to celebrate the Runyon spirit.... [It is] filled with the salty characters and richly original language sacred to the memory of the late Master"
– New York Post

Connect

Playbill Vault (Original)

Playbill Vault (1955 Revival)

Playbill Vault (1965 Revival)

Playbill Vault (1976 Revival)

Playbill Vault (1992 Revival)

Playbill Vault (2009 Revival)

US National Tour Website

IMDB page for film adaptation

Billing

Based on The Idyll of Sarah Brown and characters by Damon Runyon

Requirements

You must give the authors/creators billing credits, as specified in the Production Contract, in a conspicuous manner on the first page of credits in all programs and on houseboards, displays and in all other advertising announcements of any kind.
Percentages listed indicate required type size in relation to title size.
"GUYS AND DOLLS"
A Musical Fable of Broadway
 
Based on a Story and Characters of Damon Runyon
 
Music and Lyrics by
Book by
FRANK LOESSER
JO SWERLING and ABE BURROWS
**** Any change of any kind in the manuscript, stage business or performance of the play made by anyone shall be deemed to be a part of the Play and shall belong to the Licensor and the Licensor shall not be obliged to make payment to any person suggesting or making such changes unless they have entered into a bona fide written collaboration agreement with the Licensor to do so.****
*****NOTE; It is a violation of Federal Copyright Law to reproduce the original Broadway logo (or the 1991 revival) without permission from MTI. See additional materials for fee information.*****

Video Warning

In accordance with the Performance License, you MUST include the following warning in all programs and in a pre-show announcement:

ANY VIDEO AND/OR AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS PRODUCTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

Included Materials

ItemQuantity Included
LIBRETTO/VOCAL BOOK25
PIANO CONDUCTOR'S SCORE1
PIANO VOCAL SCORE1
STUDY GUIDE1

Production Resources

Resource
FULL SCORE VOL. 1 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 2 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 3 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 4 OF 4
HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON-10/CS
PRODUCTIONPRO-DIGITAL SCRIPT/SCORE
REFERENCE RECORDING
REHEARSCORE APP
SCENIC PROJECTIONS
STAGE WRITE APPLICATION
TRANSPOSITIONS-ON-DEMAND

STANDARD ORCHESTRATION

InstrumentationDoubling
ALTERNATE ORCH PART 1
ALTERNATE ORCH PART 2
ALTERNATE ORCH PART 3
BASS
CELLO
HORN
PERCUSSION
PIANO
REED 1ALTO SAXOPHONE , CLARINET , FLUTE , PICCOLO
REED 2ALTO SAXOPHONE , CLARINET , FLUTE , PICCOLO
REED 3CLARINET , ENGLISH HORN , OBOE , TENOR SAXOPHONE
REED 4CLARINET , TENOR SAXOPHONE
REED 5BARITONE SAXOPHONE , BASS CLARINET
TROMBONE
TRUMPET
TRUMPET 2
TRUMPET 3
VIOLIN
VIOLIN 2