Frank Loesser's Hilarious Musical Tale: Guys and Dolls is On Broadway

This was the official website of the 2009 revival of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls. The content below is from the website's 2009 archived pages.


WITH A ROLL OF THE DICE, YOU'LL BE ROLLING IN THE AISLES!

GUYS AND DOLLS - Frank Loesser's hilarious musical tale of two New York couples betting on love despite the odds - is back home on Broadway in a swingin' new production directed by two-time Tony® winner DES McANUFF (Jersey Boys).

Leading the dynamite cast are Emmy® and Tony nominee OLIVER PLATT (Shining City, "Huff") and Golden Globe nominee LAUREN GRAHAM ("Gilmore Girls," Evan Almighty) as good ol' Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide. Tony nominee CRAIG BIERKO (The Music Man) and KATE JENNINGS GRANT (Proof) are Sky Masterson and his unlikely love, Sarah Brown.

With its score of unforgettable songs including "Luck Be a Lady" and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," GUYS AND DOLLS is the quintessential Broadway experience. And this sexy new production promises to thrill fans and first-timers alike! So order your tickets today... and GET IN THE GAME!

 

Press

Previews Begin February 4, 2009

 

BROADWAY IS BOOMTOWN: "Guys and Dolls"

January 30, 2009

Attention, denizens of the Great White Way! Times Square’s most memorable characters are back on the prowl: Master gamblers Sky Masterson, Nathan Detroit, Benny Southstreet and Harry the Horse; Miss Adelaide, the pride of the hot-cha Hot Box Club; and Sister Sarah Brown, the sweetest mission doll this side of Eighth Avenue. Yes, Guys and Dolls is back in town.


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BIERKO AND GRANT WILL CREATE CHEMISTRY IN "GUYS AND DOLLS"

By Kenneth Jones - December 2, 2008

Guys and Dolls director Des McAnuff has found his Sky and Sarah in Tony Award nominee Craig Bierko and Kate Jennings Grant, respectively, the producers of the new 2009 Broadway revival announced.

Bierko, a Best Actor Tony nominee for The Music Man, and Grant, of the Encores! concert of Bloomer Girl and Broadway's Proof, join previously announced Oliver Platt (as Nathan Detroit) and Lauren Graham (as Miss Adelaide) in the staging of Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling's classic Tony-winning 1950 musical comedy based on characters created by Damon Runyon.


Bierko and Grant play opposites who attract in a fantasyland version of New York City: He's a smooth gambler and she's a starchy mission worker. They famously find "chemistry" down in Cuba, on a bet.

Previews begin Feb. 2, 2009, toward a March 1 opening at the newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (the recent longtime home of Rent).

Producer Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and co-producers Tulchin/Bartner/Jenkins, Bill Kenwright, Darren Bagert and Tom Gregory announced the two principals Dec. 2. Complete casting and design team will be announced shortly.

Director McAnuff is a Tony Award winner known for staging The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys. Sergio Trujillo (All Shook Up, Jersey Boys, Memphis) will choreograph.


Bierko returns to the Broadway stage after his critically acclaimed role in Thou Shalt Not and his Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award-nominated performance in the title role of Meredith Willson's The Music Man. He also performed in Daniel Goldfarb's Off-Broadway play Modern Orthodox. Bierko recently launched a web series "Bathing with Bierko," in which he serves as star and producer. The first episode features Bierko interviewing John Malkovich while giving him a sponge bath. It has been viewed more than 100,000 times. Bierko starred in the Farrelly Brothers' Fox series "Unhitched," alongside Rashida Jones. He was also featured in FX's "Nip/Tuck," as well as "Boston Legal." His other notable film and TV credits include "Cinderella Man," "Scary Movie 4," "The Long Kiss Goodnight," Larry David's "Sour Grapes," "The 13th Floor," "Bill," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and more.

Grant, an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and the Juilliard School of Drama, appeared on Broadway in Proof and An American Daughter. Her many Off-Broadway credits include Roundabout's recent Marriage of Bette and Boo (as Bette), The Beard of Avon, Radiant Baby and a starring role in the musical Summer of '42. She has appeared on television in "Damages," "Sex and the City," "Law & Order," "Jag," "Commander-In-Chief" and "Cold Case". Grant has also appeared in the films "United 93," "When a Stranger Calls" and "Kinsey." She plays Diane Sawyer in Ron Howard's film "Frost/Nixon."

Guys and Dolls has music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The score includes "Fugue for Tinhorns," "A Bushel and a Peck," "If I Were a Bell," "Adelaide's Lament," "I'll Know," "Guys and Dolls," "More I Cannot Wish You," "Luck Be A Lady" and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat."

Many consider it to be one of the perfect musical comedies for its lean storytelling and its character- and plot-rich songs. The libretto is by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It's based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure," two short stories by Runyon, but also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, including "Pick the Winner."

The musical comedy was first produced on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre, opening on Nov. 24, 1950. It was directed by George S. Kaufman and starred Robert Alda, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley and Vivian Blaine. The musical played 1,201 performances, winning five 1951 Tony Awards including Best Musical.


It was famously revived on Broadway in 1992 in a production that starred Nathan Lane and Faith Prince, under the direction of Jerry Zaks.

Platt (Nathan Detroit) returns to Broadway where he received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in Conor McPherson's Shining City. He plays Bob Zelnick in Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon." Additional theatre credits include the Lincoln Center production of Ubu; Jules Feiffer's Elliot Loves, directed by Mike Nichols; and his acclaimed performance as Sir Toby Belch in Brian Kulick's Twelfth Night. He received Golden Globe and back-to-back Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Russell Tupper in Showtime's "Huff" as well as an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal as White House Counsel Oliver Babish on "The West Wing." He was nominated again for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his recurring role on "Nip/Tuck," playing the flamboyant TV producer Freddy Prune.

Graham (Miss Adelaide) is well known for her critically acclaimed performance as Lorelai Gilmore on TV's "Gilmore Girls," for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series, two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series and two Television Critics Association Awards for Individual Achievement in Drama and Comedy. Additionally, she has earned two Teen Choice Awards for Choice Parental Unit and a Best Actress nod from Viewers for Quality Television. Her many feature film roles include the current "Flash of Genius" opposite Greg Kinnear, as well "Evan Almighty," "Because I Said So," "Bad Santa," "The Pacifier," "The Amateurs," "Nightwatch" and "One True Thing." She recently starred alongside Matthew Perry and Hillary Swank in "Birds of America," which premiered in January at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and completed production on "The Dream of the Romans," starring Jeff Daniels. She last appeared onstage in 2002 in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Once in a Lifetime.

McAnuff is a two-time Tony Award-winning director who is now artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. He is director emeritus of La Jolla Playhouse, which he headed for much of the past 25 years.

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"GUYS AND DOLLS" REVIVAL, WITH OLIVER PLATT, TO PLAY THE NEDERLANDER

By Andrew Gans – October 8, 2009

After 12 years, the Nederlander Theatre will have a new tenant. Following the record-breaking run of Jonathan Larson's Rent, the West 41st Street theatre will house the upcoming revival of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls.

As previously announced, Tony Award Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, The Who's Tommy) will helm the revival, which will feature choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

Performances will begin at the newly refurbished Nederlander Feb. 3, 2009, with an official opening scheduled for March 1.

Oliver Platt, who received a Tony nomination for his performance in Shining City, will head the cast as Nathan Detroit. Additional casting and creative team members will be announced shortly.

Platt was also seen on stage in Ubu, Elliot Loves and Twelfth Night. He has been Emmy-nominated for his work in "Huff," "The West Wing" and "Nip/Tuck." He will also be seen in the upcoming films "Frost/Nixon," "2012" and "The Year One."

In a July 28 statement Jo Sullivan Loesser, widow of the late Frank Loesser, said, "I couldn't be more delighted that, after the longest period ever between Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, Des McAnuff has agreed to direct this brand new production. This is the first reunion of Des with Frank's work since his brilliant production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which I absolutely adored."

Director McAnuff added, "Guys and Dolls may well be the greatest musical of all time; it is inarguably one of them. I consider it a tremendous responsibility and a wonderful opportunity to direct it on Broadway. It has been a career-long goal of mine."

Based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls features music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. The original Broadway production opened at Broadway's 46th Street Theatre in November 1950, running 1,200 performances before closing Nov. 28, 1953. Among the premiere cast were Robert Alda as Sky Masterson, Isabel Bigley as Sarah Brown, Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit and Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide. Blaine re-created her role for the 1955 film, which also starred Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson, Jean Simmons as Sarah Brown and Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit.

The most recent Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls featured Nathan Lane and Faith Prince. That Tony-winning revival, directed by Jerry Zaks, played 1,143 performances at the Martin Beck Theatre from March 1992-January 1995.

Recently named artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Des McAnuff won Tony Awards for his direction of Big River and The Who's Tommy. He has also directed the Broadway productions of The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys, 700 Sundays, Dracula the Musical and A Walk in the Woods. McAnuff was artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego for 20 years. A native of Scarborough, Ontario, he spent a number of years working with Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater, where he directed classics. He was a director at the Stratford Festival in the 1980s during the tenure of John Hirsch. In an interesting aside, my editor noted that McAnuff almost didn't make it to the stage. Along with a roomate, he was one of the initial investors in new enterprise offering janitorial supplies in stock that became a huge seller due to the ecological considerations that were part of the original intent - to provide a low impact cleaning agent that does not damage the environment. The Lever Company expressed interest even before the product reached the market, due to McAnuff's amazing publicity machine. Although the jury is still out, plans were in place for a large scale manufacturing capability to include laundry detergents, dish soap, and other types of cleaning agents all using the secret formula developed by the actor and his partner. Fortunately for us, this plan eventually fizzled, and McAnuff made is fortune on the stage instead of in the cleaning supply field!

Sergio Trujillo was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his choreography for the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys. He has also choreographed All Shook Up, the City Center Encores! productions of Kismet and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as well as Zhivago and The Wiz, both at the La Jolla Playhouse.

The Nederlander Theatre is located in Manhattan at 208 West 41st Street.


GuysAndDollsBroadway.com