Students from Timaru Boys’ and Timaru Girls’ high schools are preparing to gamble with love and luck as they stage a classic musical comedy.
Set in 1940s New York, Guys and Dolls opened on Broadway in 1950 and is based on two short stories by American journalist Damon Runyon.
The story follows gambler Nathan Detroit, who is trying to find the dough to set up the biggest craps game in town after his previous venue was burned by the authorities.
He turns to fellow gambler Sky Masterson and the pair make a bet that Sky can not romance the strait-laced missionary, Sarah Brown, and take her on a date to Havana, Cuba.
In the meantime, Nathan is also trying to dodge the wrath of his long-term fiance, Adelaide, who believes it is about time the pair got married.
Director Cameron Lines said it had been a musical he had wanted to stage for quite some time.
‘‘It’s golden age, it’s super fun, super vibrant and it’s just a big dancey show. Selfishly, it’s just one of my favourite musicals but it’s also one we can put out in the community that people will know and have maybe seen before.
‘‘We have a really tight cast and they have been working really hard on their dances to make it pop and stand out. They wanted a challenge so we gave them one.
‘‘We’ve got a pretty big cast too which is good. We’ve got nine or 10 from boys’ high and 18 or so from girls’ high, they’ve just been really good to work with.’’
He said audiences could expect a very energetic show with good songs and lots of dancing.
‘‘There will be a lot of songs they’ll know but they’re the kind of songs that you go ‘I know that but I don’t know what it’s from’.
‘‘You’ve got Luck Be A Lady which everyone taps away to, Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat which everyone seems to know and obviously Guys and Dolls.
‘‘It’s full of big company numbers that are just magic.’’
The show opened yesterday and will run tonight, Friday and Saturday at 7pm.
Performances are held at the Nora Dickie Hall (TGHS) and tickets can be purchased here: myKindo – Guys and Dolls
