TOWNSHEND — The Leland & Gray Players present “Guys and Dolls,” the boisterous musical based on stories by Damon Runyon with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, at Leland & Gray's Dutton Gymnasium.
Performances are Wednesday, March 27, and Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m.; Friday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, March 30, at 3 and 7:30 p.m.
Action is set in New York City's Times Square, 1948. As the lights come up, we meet a pack of crapshooters and a congregation of missionaries working to convert them, the sinners of the most dangerous part of the city.
Nathan Detroit, the gambler who runs the craps game, is strapped for the cash he needs to pay for a space to hold his game. He has also been engaged to Miss Adelaide, a dancer at the Hot Box Club, for 14 years. When Nathan hears the big gambler Sky Masterson is in town, he wagers that Sky can't get Sarah Brown, the head of the Save-a-Soul Mission, to fly to Havana, Cuba, with him for dinner the next day.
Sarah resists, but eventually relents when Sky quotes the Bible and offers to bring at least a dozen gamblers into her mission. The two fly to Havana where the story takes a turn. Once back in New York and after a few twists, tussles and rolls of the dice, all enjoy a very happy ending.
Favorite tunes from the show include Luck Be a Lady, Fugue for Tinhorns, If I Were a Bell, I'll Know, and Adelaide's Lament.
This production of “Guys and Dolls” is directed by Ann Landenberger with assistant producer Abby Wicker. Ron Kelley is music director and Broadway veteran Terrie Robinson is choreographer.
Scenery is by Leland & Gray art teacher Kristen Wilson's design classes; costumes are the creations of Wicker with parent volunteers including Kim Soule, Vera Gervais, and Bonnie Cramp.
The cast includes Addie Mahdavi, Rachael Turner, Adam Culver, Rebekah Winot, Susie Francy, Patrick Hauer, Arik Clark, Madison Cannella, Nathaniel Van Osdol, Kenny Cashman, Jesse Cannella, William Jagiello, Zoe Soule, Jesse Newton, Maddi Etman, Gable Rak, Tino Benson, Jasmine Domenick, Gia Casella, Sean Kiziltan, Asa Chapin, Michael Zima'nyi, Alana Redden, Nastia Stevens, Kayla Wilson, and, from Newbrook Elementary, Fairen Starks and Sam Thibault.
Crew includes Max Cramp, Maezie Cramp, Sam Harrison, Genevieve Darling, Rachel Spence, Grant Cullen.