Few musicals have the staying power and universal appeal of the beloved “Guys and Dolls.” When the show first premiered on Broadway in 1950, it received positive reviews from nearly everyone. The movie adaptation, featuring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, was nominated for a Golden Globe for best musical/comedy motion picture.
Starting Friday, April 13 at 7 p.m., the musical comedy classic will be dancing its way onto the Quirk Theater stage.
“It’s one of my very, very favorite shows,” Phil Simmons, associate professor of musical theatre said, explaining why he chose to put on “Guys and Dolls.” He would know, having performed in multiple productions of the musical in the past.
The plot revolves around a likeable bunch of “musical theatre gangsters,” as Simmons describes the characters. Sky Masterson, whom Simmons calls “the godfather, if you will, of the musical theatre mafia,” attempts to woo the very uptight and proper Salvation Army officer Sarah Brown.
Meanwhile, Nathan Detroit, the organizer of an illegal craps game, feuds with his fiancé, Adelaide, to whom he has been engaged for fourteen years.
It takes a great amount of effort and talent to successfully arrange and produce a show of this caliber. The auditions for the roles were a challenge in itself, with many skilled thespians, vocalists and dancers turning up to try out.“It took a while because there were a lot of good people who auditioned,” Simmons said. “It was a tough choice.”
He’s very pleased with his choices, however. Sarah Brown will be played by Stephanie VanAlstine, and Sky Masterson will be played by Eric Hohnke. Nathan Detroit will be portrayed by Caleb Knutson, and Miss Adelaide is Kelsey Kerkes. The remainder of the talented cast is comprised of primarily theatre and vocal performance majors who love soaking up the spotlight.
Simmons is especially pleased with the up-and-coming group of fresh faces making their first appearance in “Guys and Dolls.”
“Everything goes in cycles—you graduate a class or two and then a new group of people come in,” Simmons said. “So there are a lot of new faces
that our EMU theatre audiences haven’t seen. I’m most excited about the talent that we have, but I’m really excited for our audiences to see them for the first time.”
Of course, the best part of being in theatre, according to Simmons, is “being able, at least for a few minutes, to make people in the audience forget any troubles they might be having.” He views acting as a sort of service to people. “They get sucked into the story and forget that the rent’s due or that something bad happened in the world that day.”
It’s easy to get sucked into “Guys and Dolls,” no matter what your age, gender, or background may be. The production’s subject matter and appealing characters make for a show that can be enjoyed by just about anyone. In fact, many people with no experience in musical theatre at all have at least heard of it.
“We were kind of looking for something that was a broad appeal,” Simmons said. “Everybody knows it, old or young.
“If you have guys who usually don’t want to go see it, you can say it’s about gangsters who gamble in the sewer. There’s something in it for everybody. If you’re bored with one scene, you won’t be bored for very long ‘cause something else is coming down the pipeline.”
The show in itself is fun, plain and simple. As Simmons puts it, “Who doesn’t love being a musical theatre gangster?”
“Guys and Dolls” premieres at the Quirk/Sponberg Theatre on Friday, April 13 at 7 pm.
