Guys & Dolls - April 2007
CAST LIST
Sky Masterson - Paul Lycett
Sarah Brown - Lydia Simpkiss
Adelaide - Faye Bray
Nicely Nicely - Alf Rai
Benny Southstreet - Mark Friedl
Nathan Detroit - Roger Stokes
Harry the Horse - Chris Dowen
Big Jule - John Arnold
Lt Brannigan - Mac Hammond
Arvide Abernathy - Colin Hunt
General Matilda B. Cartwright - Marina Bray
Agatha - Chris Spittle
Angie The Ox - Arthur Bate
Mimi - Nikki Rai
Master of Ceremonies - Charlotte Singh
New York, the city that never sleeps. And within it, all human life. From the news seller to the chorus girl, from the gambler to the missionary - all of them caught up in the teeming vitality of the city streets.
Sergeant Sarah Brown, of the Save a Soul Mission, vainly trying to spread the Word, and make a difference to the sin and depravity of the streets, full of tipsters, gamblers and con men. Adelaide, the showgirl, desperate to leave behind her seemingly glamorous lifestyle for a white picket fence and roses round the door. Nathan Detroit, trying to find yet another new location for his floating dice game, keeping just one short step ahead of the law. And the gamblers themselves, eager for just one more roll, for that winning streak which will keep them ahead of the game. And the coolest, highest roller of them all, Sky Masterson, who would bet on anything that would turn him a profit. These are some of the characters of Damon Runyon's story.
Act I
Nathan Detroit is desperate to find a location for his floating crap game. He can use the Biltmore Garage, but only if he can come up with a thousand dollars - and quickly. He has to find a bet that he can win against Sky Masterson, and succeeds in wagering that Sky cannot persuade Sergeant Sarah Brown to fly with him to Havana. Sky realises that he has been conned, but won't give up without trying. He uses his considerable charm to convince Sarah that he is reformed sinner, and that he will deliver a dozen sinners to her Mission if she will have dinner with him at his favourite restaurant. She reluctantly agrees, without realising that the restaurant is in Cuba.
Adelaide hasn't given up hope that Nathan has given up his shady lifestyle, and that their fourteen year long engagement will soon end in wedding bells. However, Nathan shows no signs of any change in his mode of employment, and during Sky and Sarah's absence in Havana, organises his game in the Save a Soul Mission itself. To convince the local policeman that the gathering of gamblers is entirely legitimate, Nathan is forced to announce that he and Adelaide are eloping that evening. In Cuba, Sky sees Sarah in a completely different light, and despite the undoubted opportunity, the better side of his nature prevails. As they return from Havana, the crap game is raided, and Sarah runs from Sky, believing herself to have been used in order to get her away from the Mission.
Act II
Nathan cannot elope and run the crap game, so he lets Adelaide run once more. Sarah's uncle Arvide realises that she has fallen in love with Sky, but refuses to have anything to do with him. Arvide insists that Sky fulfil his promise to deliver twelve sinners to the Mission. At the crap game, Nathan offers to pay up on his bet about Sarah and Havana, but Sky denies that he took her there. Sky rolls the dice to win the souls of the crapshooters, and insists that they keep their promise to attend the prayer meeting.
Adelaide forgives Nathan on condition that they elope, but Nathan has the most unbelievable excuse of all - a prior engagement at the prayer meeting. At the meeting the gamblers reluctantly confess to their previous sins, and Sarah's mission is saved from closure. All ends happily as Nathan and Adelaide marry at the Mission now run by Sergeant Sarah and Brother Sky Masterson.
BBC Writeup
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