Guys and Dolls Tickets | Schedule for 2024/2025 Events

Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is a musical based on two short stories, The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown and Blood Pressure by Damon Runyon. It has music and lyrics by Frank Loesser based on a book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling. A few characters and story elements from Pick the Winner are a part of the musical.

The musical first premiered on Broadway in 1950 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was selected as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner in 1951. But Abe Burrows' communist leanings were exposed by HUAC. The award was left without a winner that year. Later, Guns and Dolls opened at the West End in 1953.

The original Broadway musical ran for 1200 performances. It was revived in 1976, 1992, and 2009 on Broadway.

Plot and Musical Numbers

Guns and Dolls is a romantic comedy musical set in Manhattan. It has the most unlikely people paired as lovers. A high-rolling gambler is paired with a puritanical missionary. A showgirl who wants an honest life has a crap game manager as her fiancé.

The musical is the story of these characters.

Nathan Detroit is a notorious con who wants to take his illegal crap game to new heights. However, the police mark his trusted venue, and Nathan has little time to find another safe place to continue his illegal activities.

Sky Masterson is the gambler ready to take on any gamble if the rewards are high. Nathan bets Sky about taking a girl to date to Havana (Cuba). He picks Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown from the Save a Soul Mission as the target for Sky.

Sky thinks he is duped but is surprised when he falls in love with her and is successful in wooing Sarah. Sarah is the 'doll' in the title, which implies that a man would do anything for the girl he loves. Nathan and Adelaide have been engaged for 14 years. The couple has commitment issues (Nathan's side) and a breakup. Finally, after many twists and turns, both couples get married, and the men are reformed, living honest lives to please their women.

Guns and Dolls are divided into two acts. The first act has eleven songs, and the second has nine. The original Broadway production was directed by George S. Kaufman.

The UK production had a special Royal Command Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth in Nov 1953.