Guys and Dolls facts for kids

Guys and Dolls is a 1950 Broadway musical. The music and lyrics were written by Frank Loesser, and the speaking parts were written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. The story of Guys and Dolls is based on short stories written by Damon Runyon. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

What happens

Nathan Detroit, a gambler in 1920's New York City, needs a place to hold his illegal dice game where he will not be caught by the police. He finds a place, but the person who owns it wants one thousand dollars to rent it for the night. Nathan thinks he is out of luck, until he hears that the famous gambler Sky Masterson is in town. He bets Sky one thousand dollars that he cannot get Sarah Brown, a missionary, to go to Havana, Cuba with him. Because Sarah is very religious and moralistic, Nathan thinks she will never agree to go with him.

Nathan has another problem. He has been engaged to a woman named Adelaide for fourteen years, but they still are not married. Adelaide is so frustrated with him that she comes down with a cold. She tells him that if he does not marry her, she will leave him. Nathan promises to marry her, but then realizes that the night he said he would meet her is the same night as the dice game. He does not marry her, and Adelaide is extremely angry with him. She tells him she never wants to see him again.

Meanwhile, Sarah's mission is about to be closed down unless she can have it filled for a midnight prayer meeting later that week. Sky hears about this and makes a deal with her. If she goes to Havana with him, he will persuade the men he knows to go to the prayer meeting. Because Sarah is desperate, she accepts his offer. At first Sky is only taking her to Havana to win the bet, and Sarah is only going with him to save her mission, but while they are in Havana they fall in love. As Sky is saying goodbye to her, Nathan and the other gamblers run out of the mission, where they had been holding the dice game. Sarah thinks he only took her to Havana to get her away from the mission so Nathan could have the game there, and she is very angry with him.

Sky is still in love with Sarah, so he decides to keep his part of the deal. He makes a bet with all the gamblers. If he loses, he will give each of the gamblers a thousand dollars. If he wins, they will have to go to the prayer meeting. Sky wins the bet, and Sarah's mission is saved. Sarah realizes that he really does care about her.

Later, Sarah meets Adelaide. They talk about Nathan and Sky and realize that they are both in love. Sarah decides to marry Sky, and Adelaide decides to marry Nathan.

Images for kids

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  Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide and Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit in the 1950 original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls

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  Guys and Dolls window card starring Vivian Blaine, Robert Alda and Sam Levene from original 1950 Broadway production at the 46th Street Theatre

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  New York Mirror "Theatre-Ticket Ordergram" featuring original Broadway stars Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene and Isabel Bigley in 1950 Broadway production Guys and Dolls at 46th Street Theatre

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  Before opening at London's Coliseum on May 28, 1953, Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene co-starred in an eight performance run of Guys and Dolls at the Bristol Hippodrome.

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  Window card from 1st UK production of Guys and Dolls co-starring Vivian Blaine and Sam Levene which ran for 555 performances at London's Coliseum

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  Guys and Dolls program from 1st Las Vegas production which opened September 7, 1955 at the Royal Nevada, performed twice daily starring Vivian Blaine, Robert Alda and Sam Levene, each reprising their original Broadway performances

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  Libretto and vocal book, Music Theatre International (1978), rented out to actors

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  DVD cover of the 1992 cast-album recording documentary, Guys and Dolls: Off the Record, starring Peter Gallagher, Josie de Guzman, Nathan Lane, and Faith Prince