Guys and Dolls

Musical

Writers: Jo Swerling Abe Burrows Frank Loesser

Overview

Show Information

Lyrics
Category
Musical
Number of Acts
2
Tony Award®
Best Musical 1950
First Produced
1950
Genres
Comedy, Romance
Settings
Multiple Settings
Time & Place
new york, havana, cuba
Cast Size
medium
Orchestra Size
Large
Dancing
Some Dance
Ideal for
College/University, Community Theatre, Diverse Cast, High School, Large Cast, Middle School, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female, Star Vehicle Male
Casting Notes
Mostly male cast
Includes adult, mature adult, elderly, young adult characters

Synopsis

Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy involving the unlikeliest of Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is anything but. Set in the Manhattan of Damon Runyon’s short stories, Guys and Dolls tells of con-man Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find new life for his illegal, but notorious, crap game. When their trusty venue is found out by the police, Nathan has to find a new home for his crap game quickly - but he doesn’t have the dough to secure the one location he finds. Enter Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to take on any honest bet with a high enough reward attached. Nathan bets Sky that he can’t take the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to Havana, Cuba, with him on a date. When Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan chooses uptight Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown, head of Broadway’s Save-a-Soul Mission. Sky thinks he’s been duped, but he’s in for even more of a surprise when his efforts to woo Sarah are so successful that he falls in love with her himself! Guys and Dolls takes us from the bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a “doll.” Guys and Dolls features some of Frank Loesser’s most memorable tunes, including the hilarious “Adelaide’s Lament,” the romantic “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” the exuberant “If I Were a Bell,” and the classic “Luck Be a Lady.”

Lead Characters


Guys and Dolls guide sections