Guys & Dolls is now showing at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre at 12000 Beach Boulevard.
ABOUT “GUYS & DOLLS”
“Guys & Dolls” revolves around high rollers and the women they love in 1940s New York City. The plot centers around gambler Sky Masterson’s bet to get missionary Sarah Brown to Havana, crap game promoter Nathan Detroit’s 14-year-old engagement to show girl Miss Adelaide and the next location of “the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.” The play first opened on Nov. 24, 1950 at New York’s 46th Street Theatre with an original cast , including Robert Alda, Vivian Blane, Sam Levine and Isabelle Bigley. The 1955 film version featured Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra and a 1976 Broadway revival starred an all-black cast. One of the most successful musicals of all time, “Guys & Dolls” had 650 productions in the U.S. and Canada in 1999 alone.
WHAT YOU’LL RECOGNIZE
“Guys & Dolls” features a number of songs that have turned into standards. “A Bushel and a Peck,” “Luck Be a Lady,” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” are just a few of them. You also might recognize someone you know in a large cast of local actors.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT
Actor Nathan Lane, who starred as Nathan Detroit in the 1992 Broadway revival of “Guys & Dolls,” took his stage name from the character. Lane, whose real name is Joseph Lane, first played the role at a dinner theater and felt such a connection to the character that he decided to change his name.
ABOUT THE ALHAMBRA
The Alhambra Dinner Theatre is in its 35th year as Jacksonville’s first dinner theater.
With eight shows a year, the stage stays busy.
WHEN IS IT RUNNING?
Until May 31. Doors open at 6 p.m., dinner is served from 6:30-7:45 p.m. and the show starts just after 8 p.m. Performances are Tuesday through Sunday.
WHAT’S THE ALHAMBRA’S NEXT SHOW?
Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” begins June 3 and will run until July 5.
— by Bailey White