PLOT OF GUYS AND DOLLS

Loesser said, ‘I try to examine characters, not events.’ When describing his approach to writing
songs. Therefore, plot is maybe seen as less important than songs in this.

HOWEVER – based on a book, which must have worked as a story on its own – therefore, not carried
by songs. BUT other side stories added, etc. WOULD IT HAVE BEEN SUCCESFUL AS A PLAY?

How does score move action forward?

How does it affect emotional response to show?

How does music contribute to understanding of larger themes of show? LARGER THEMES: gambling,
religion, morality, love

How do music and lyrics evoke time and place?

In which ways is music indispensable to plot? E.G Havana

Different musical styles – how did choice of style define dramatic action of each number?

Sounds in Adelaide’s lament – deepen emotional texture of seemingly comic song

Music and lyrics can compress or elevate importance of information

his article is about the musical. For other uses, see Guys and Dolls (disambiguation).

Guys and Dolls

Original 1950 Broadway Cast Recording

Music Frank Loesser

Lyrics Frank Loesser

Book Jo Swerling

Abe Burrows

Basis "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood

Pressure" by Damon Runyon[1]

Productions 1950 Broadway

1953 West End
 1976 Broadway revival

1982 London revival

1992 Broadway revival

2005 West End revival

2009 Broadway revival

2015 West End revival

Awards Tony Award for Best Musical

Tony Award for Best Book

(1982) Olivier for Outstanding Musical

Tony Award for Best Revival

Drama Desk Outstanding Revival

(2005) Olivier for Outstanding Musical

Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo
Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure",
which are two short stories by Damon Runyon,[1][2] and also borrows characters and plot elements
from other Runyon stories – such as "Pick the Winner". [3]

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

The show premiered on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 1,200 performances and won
the Tony Award for Best Musical. The musical has had several Broadway and London revivals,
as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank
Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.
Guys and Dolls was selected as the winner of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. However,
because of writer Abe Burrows' troubles with the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC), the Trustees of Columbia University vetoed the selection, and no Pulitzer for
Drama was awarded that year.[4]
In 1998,[5] Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Robert Alda and Isabel Bigley, along with the original
Broadway cast of the 1950 Decca cast album, were posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall
of Fame.