Stage Door News
Stage Door News
You have never seen Guys and Dolls like this before! Following a long string of hit musicals at the Festival, Canada’s top director-choreographer Donna Feore thrills audiences once again with her stunning production of Guys and Dolls, filled with original choreography showcased in some of the most spectacular production numbers ever mounted on a Stratford stage. Rediscover this beloved musical, on stage now at the Festival Theatre.
“Guys and Dolls is without question one of the finest pieces of musical theatre ever created,” says Ms Feore. “Branded a classic almost the instant it premièred, Guys and Dolls defies expectations. The very fact that crapshooters have a ballet lets us know that traditional ideas will be turned on their heads. The ‘dolls’ of the title are independent, employed and empowered. Guys and Dolls offers us a remarkably balanced view of the romantic transactions of this fabled Broadway bunch and it does it with great joy and precision. There is nothing extra or out of place. Every word, every note, every step earns its keep.”
“Guys and Dolls is known as the perfect musical comedy and there is no more perfect director to bring it to life than Donna Feore,” says Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “It’s a show with special meaning to her – and to us – because it’s the show that launched her Stratford career as a dancer in our 1990 production. Since then, she has become a true master of our Festival stage, exciting audiences with hit after hit, and this production is no exception. She and her extraordinary group of artists are about to blow the roof off the Festival.”
The cast boasts 33 of the country’s most gifted performers, led by Sean Arbuckle as Nathan Detroit, Evan Buliung as Sky Masterson, Alexis Gordon as Sarah Brown and Blythe Wilson as Miss Adelaide, with Lisa Horner as General Matilda B. Cartwright, Laurie Murdoch as Arvide Abernathy and Steve Ross as Nicely-Nicely Johnson.
The production features, for the first time in 25 years, Michael Starobin’s vibrant orchestrations and Mark Hummel’s slick dance arrangements, originally created for the 1992 Broadway production. The glorious score, including “Luck Be a Lady,” “A Bushel and a Peck” and the rousing “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” is brought to life by Music Director Laura Burton and a live 19-piece orchestra.
The creative team also includes Set Designer Michael Gianfrancesco, Costume Designer Dana Osborne, Lighting Designer Michael Walton, Sound Designer Peter McBoyle and Fight Director John Stead.
Guys and Dolls officially opens on Tuesday, May 30, and runs until October 29.
Guys and Dolls is a musical fable of Broadway, based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.
Guys and Dolls Forum highlights
The Forum is a series of events, such as exclusive showcases, guest speakers, special meals, music and family fun, that offer theatregoers a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the ideas and issues raised by the 2017 playbill. Themes related to Guys and Dolls will be explored through several Forum events, including:
• Song and Dance: Guys and Dolls
June 11 – September 30
10:30 a.m. to noon
Find out what it’s like to be in a musical at the Stratford Festival as company members teach you a song and dance from Guys and Dolls.
Thursday, June 22
11 a.m. to noon
Robert Cushman investigates the life, world and works of Damon Runyon, the great short-story writer and reporter whose gangster characters and their fantastic lingo inspired the fabulous world of Guys and Dolls. Featuring extracts from the stories, including one of the funniest and most touching of them all, “The Lily of St. Pierre.”
The Stratford Festival’s 2017 season runs until October 29, featuring Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Guys and Dolls, HMS Pinafore, Treasure Island, The School for Scandal, The Changeling, Bakkhai, Tartuffe, The Madwoman of Chaillot, The Komagata Maru Incident, The Virgin Trial and The Breathing Hole. For tickets and more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.
Photo: Sean Arbuckle and Blythe Wilson. ©2017 Lynda Churilla.
2017-04-17
Stratford: Stratford Festival kicks off its 65th season with "Guys and Dolls"