`Guys and Dolls': A safe bet for a bushel of fun.Byline: Fred Crafts The Register-Guard Gamblers Sky Masterson and Nathan Detroit know all the right people: Harry the Horse, Louis the Lips, Angie the Ox, Big Jule, Nicely-Nicely, Benny Southstreet, Rusty Charlie, Society Max, Brandy Bottle Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. . "Aren't those great names?" says director Kirk Boyd as he runs down the cast list for the Oregon Festival of American Music's "Guys And Dolls," which opens Friday for four performances. "You can just see them. You can taste them. They're just terrific." Boyd, the founding artistic director of Eugene's Willamette Repertory Theatre repertory theatre Production of several different plays in a single season by a resident acting company. The plays chosen may be classic works by famous dramatists or new works by emerging playwrights, and the companies that perform them often serve as a training ground for , is getting a big kick out of rubbing elbows with Damon Runyon's colorful characters. A Hearst newspaper reporter who often wrote about gambling, horse racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with and New York's criminal world, Runyon (1884-1946) had a keen ear for Broadway slang, outrageous metaphors and use of the present tense pres·ent tense n. The verb tense expressing action in the present time, as in She writes; she is writing. Noun 1. present tense - a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking present . His stories were best sellers. Material that good should be a natural for the stage, but it took some work. Producers Cy Feuer Cy Feuer (January 15, 1911 – May 17, 2006) was an American producer, director, composer, and musician. Born Seymour Arnold Feuer in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at the Juilliard School before joining the orchestras at Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy Theater as a and Ernest Martin Ernest Martin may refer to:
or idyl In literature, a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment. of Miss Sarah Brown," which was inspired by a former showgirl who joined the Salvation Army and preached to the dregs dregs Noun, pl 1. solid particles that settle at the bottom of some liquids 2. the dregs the worst or most despised elements: the dregs of colonial society [Old Norse dregg on Times Square. In Runyon's story, she falls in love with a hard-core gambler and tries to reform him. That's still the gist of the musical "Guys and Dolls." Film scenarist sce·nar·ist n. One who writes screenplays. scenarist the writer of scenarios, story lines for motion pictures. See also: Films Noun 1. Jo Swerling and composer-lyricist Frank (``Where's Charley?'') Loesser were teamed to write the show. It didn't work. Loesser's songs were kept, but Swerling was sent packing after the first draft. A contractual clause stipulated that his name remain on the program no matter what. Swerling and Abe Burrows are credited with writing the book, although the two never met. Burrows viewed the show as a study in contrasts. He paired the fresh romance between evangelist Sarah Brown and gambler Sky Masterson against the 14-year engagement of the comic leads, Miss Adelaide and Nathan Detroit. It worked beautifully. Opening on Broadway on Nov. 24, 1950, "Guys and Dolls" ran for 1,200 performances, then was adapted into a 1955 film in which Marlon Brando made his musical debut. Alongside him was Frank Sinatra, with Vivian Blaine and Stubby Kaye reprising their stage roles. Besides the wacky characters, gangster dialect and neon costumes, the musical boasts Loesser's tuneful score, including the hits "If I Were a Bell" and "A Bushel bushel: see English units of measurement. and a Peck." Also finding favor with the public are songs such as "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat," "Fugue fugue (fy  g) [Ital.,=flight], in music, a form of composition in which the basic principle is imitative counterpoint of several voices. for
Tinhorns," "I'll Know," "Adelaide's
Lament," "I've Never Been In Love Before,"
"More I Cannot Wish You" and "Luck Be a Lady."
` `Guys and Dolls' is one of the great classics," says OFAM OFAM Oregon Festival of American Music music director James Paul "It's just one hit tune after the next." "Guys and Dolls" is OFAM's second summer musical. Executive director James Ralph says the festival is committed to staging a musical each summer. Next year it will be "Anything Goes." For "Guys and Dolls," Boyd is again working with the leads of last year's "Crazy for You," William Mark Hulings (playing Sky Masterson) and Shirley Andress (Sarah Brown). The comic leads are Jeff Pierce (Nathan Detroit) and Lyn Burg (Miss Adelaide). The gamblers with wacky names are played by Rowan Morrison (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), Peter Mantey (Benny Southstreet), Peter Hollens (Rusty Charlie), Donald Kelly (Harry the Horse), Patrick Torelle (Big Jule), Jonathan Matthews (Angie the Ox), Larry Maltz (Society Max), Brandon Finch (Scranton Slim), Stephan Nance (Dave the Dude), Carl Keller (The Greek), Marco Davis (Louis the Lips) and Billy Nelson (Brandy Bottle Bates). The Hot Box ladies are named simply Mimi (Jennifer Coombs Coombs can refer to:
The large cast also includes Earl Ruttencutter (as Lt. Brannigan bran·ni·gan n. 1. A noisy or confused quarrel. 2. A drinking spree; a binge. [Probably from the name Brannigan.] ) and Sandy Naishtat (Arvide Abernathy), and Susan Mason (Gen. Cartwright), Peg Major (Martha), Mindy Linder (Agatha) and Johnny Ormsbee (Calvin) as the mission army. Richard Jessup is the choreographer. James Paul will conduct a 20-piece pit orchestra. Others on the technical staff are Vicki Brabham (choral director), Jerry Hooker (scenic designer), Mary Mikkelsen (costume designer), Janet Rose (lighting designer) and Joshua Neckels (production stage manager). Although the plot is a classic boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl scenario, Boyd notes it is subtitled "A Musical Fable of Broadway." "Fable means it's not real," Boyd explains. "It's broader than reality, but this side of cartoon." Which is just the way Boyd is directing it. "I don't think there's a big lesson to be learned from this, except that musicals are great fun - and a guy's got to have a doll." Fred Crafts can be reached at 338-2575 or fcrafts@guardnet .com. THEATER PREVIEW Guys and Dolls What: Gamblers and their girlfriends inhabit a Damon Runyon world in the Frank Loesser-Abe Burrows/Jo Swerling musical; directed for the Oregon Festival of American Music Oregon Festival of American Music is an eclectic, thematically-based two-week summer music festival that has been held annually in Eugene, Oregon since 1992. Produced by The John G. by Kirk Boyd When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Aug. 13 and 15; 2:30 p.m. Aug. 10 Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, Seventh and Willamette streets How much: $18 to $44 (high school age and younger are half price), through the Hult Center box office (682-5000) GuardLine: To hear some of the music, call GuardLine at 485-2000 and select category 3733 CAPTION(S): Shirley Andress (left) plays Sarah Brown with William Mark Hulings as Sky Masterson. And Jeff Pierce is Nathan Detroit with Lyn Burg as Ms. Adelaide in `Guys and Dolls.' Collin Andrew / The Register-Guard Shirley Andress (left) plays Sarah Brown, an evangelist who falls in love with gambler Sky Masterson, played by William Mark Hulings, in OFAM's ``Guys and Dolls.'' |
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