For my third musical entry, I will be reviewing another classic musical…Guys and Dolls.
This is the first musical on this list that I have mixed feelings about, for many of the male characters are misogynistic—as it takes place in New York City in the 1950s. Its portrayal of women as needing men to fulfill their lives and being called “dolls” was incredibly off-putting for me and my castmates, even though it is a “timeless classic.” Of course we all recognized this and put on the best show we could, but it was a lingering thought.
The story follows gambler Nathan Detroit, who has been avoiding getting married to his girlfriend Adelaide for 14 years. I know what you’re thinking, ultimate red flag right? Well, Nathan needs one thousand dollars in advance to rent a venue for the crap game–which was a common game that gamblers played at the time. Neither he nor his friends Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet can afford. In a scramble to find a solution, Nathan decides to bet against the well-known gambler Sky Masterson, challenging him to have dinner in Havana with a woman of his choice. Sky accepts the bet and Nathan chooses Sergeant Sarah Brown, who runs a mission for sinners. Sky visits Sarah and invites her to have dinner with him in Havana; in return, he would bring one dozen sinners to the mission. Sarah refuses the deal because Sky is a gambler (and a sleezeball if I do say so myself), but when General Cartwright comes to New York to shut down the mission due to its unpopularity, Sarah feels that the only chance to keep the mission operating is accepting Sky’s invitation. They travel to Havana and soon fall in love with each other, but when they return to the mission, Sarah discovers that Nathan used the place to host his crap game. Further, she believes that Sky has plotted the scheme to use her. Now Sky must convince the gamblers and gangsters that arrived in New York to the crap game that they should go to the mission to help Sarah. And Adelaide, while all this is happening, wallows in self-pity because Nathan will not tie the knot. You could say he’s knot so ready to be tied down.
As I am sure you can guess, the musical ends with Sarah and Sky making up and becoming romantically involved, while Nathan and Adelaide finally get married. Classic happy ending.
My high school put on this musical when I was in 11th grade, and I played the part of Nicely-Nicely Johnson, one of Nathan’s best friends. We unfortunately did not have many guys in our cast, so I had to play a male part. I had a lot of fun with it though, as it is not a common occurrence for this musical especially. You may be familiar with the song “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” which is the main song that my character sings. It’s incredibly catchy and was a lot of fun to perform. I was given the opportunity to choreograph the dance sequences during the song, which was a welcome challenge for me.
Just as I mentioned with Annie and Fiddler on the Roof, there is a movie version of this musical with Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit and Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson that is worth a watch for the catchy tunes.
I am vaguely familiar with Guys and Dolls. I saw it once and once was enough. My favorite song though has to either be “Sit down, you’re rocking the boat” (it really is catchy) or “Luck be a lady.” I might have to go and watch the Frank Sinatra version. I remember hearing him sing it but never put the pieces together that he was actually IN it.
I have heard of this musical, but I am not extremely familiar with it. I loved how you provided a complete background because it sounds so interesting. While the message of men fulfilling a woman’s life is disappointing, I think Sky can be seen as a role model because she ultimately gets the gangsters to help in a mission. This is at least what I got from the summary. Personally, I don’t think Adelaide should have married Nathan because of his lack of commitment… a total red flag.