Press Releases

MONTEREY - The Monterey Peninsula College Theatre Department presents the timeless musical comedy "Guys and Dolls" in a limited three week run, August 2 – 5, 9 – 12, and 16 – 19. Performances are Thursday at 7:00 PM, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 PM, and Sunday at 2:00 PM at the Morgan Stock Stage, on the Monterey Peninsula College campus. MPC is located at 980 Fremont Street, downtown Monterey.

“Guys & Dolls” is directed by Theatre Department co-chairman Gary Bolen, who also directed last season's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and “Urinetown, the Musical.”

Based on the works of Damon Runyon, and featuring the music and lyrics of Frank Loesser, “Guys & Dolls” is considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy. Writing about the type of seedy characters he found fascinating, Runyon is often considered the man who ‘invented’ Broadway, turning Gamblers, Dames, Hustlers, Dice, and New York itself into a larger-Than-Life, fictionalized version of reality. In fact, the personalities in his stories were so colorful, and his romanticized version of New York so irresistible, that his biographer Jimmy Breslin claimed Runyon had everybody believing that his version of Broadway actually existed. And in some ways, Runyon's Broadway was real. The appeal of his characters and the credibility of his stories lay in the fact that Runyon lent much of his own life to his writing, and the tales he told were often fictionalized versions of his own encounters and adventures.

Adapted from Runyon’s story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," the musical we now know as "Guys and Dolls" tells the story of Nathan Detroit [Troy Johnson], organizer of the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York. Detroit bets fellow gambler Sky Masterson [Rob Devlin] that he can't make the next girl he sees fall in love with him, and that "next girl" turns out to be Miss Sarah Brown [Erica Racz], a pure-at-heart reformer from the Save-A-Soul Mission. Nathan, meanwhile, is dealing with his own girlfriend, Adelaide [Laura Akard], who after a 14 year engagement is more than ready for marriage. Now a cornerstone of musical theatre, “Guys and Dolls” continues to delight audiences over 50 years after its Broadway premiere.

According to director Gary Bolen: "As big a fan as I am of other musicals - especially those of Stephen Sondheim - for my money Guys and Dolls is THE perfect American musical. It's got every single element: great character leads in Sky, Adelaide, Nathan and Sarah, wonderfully colorful supporting characters, snappy dialogues steeped in Runyon's "gambler-ese" and some of the best and most memorable songs in all of musical theatre."
Written by composer/lyricist Frank Loesser, with a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, the original 1951 production of "Guys and Dolls" won the Tony for Best Musical, and the 1995 production starring Faith Prince and Nathan Lane won the Tony for Best Revival. The musical also received international attention thanks to the 1955 MGM motion picture adaptation featuring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra.

The Production team, lead by Director Gary Bolen, includes Choreographer Susan Cable, Musical Director Barney Hulse, Guest Scenic Designer Casey Kearns, and Guest Lighting Designer, Charles Houghton from last season’s “A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum”, and resident Costume Designer Kathleen O’Brien.
Bolen has collaborated with Susan Cable on many of MPC’s most successful shows over the last seven years, and says "Susan has created some incredible dance sequences, especially in the "Crapshooter's Ballet." It will certainly put the lie to the belief that there aren't enough great male dancers in the area."

“Guys and Dolls” performs, 7:00 PM Thursday (August 2, 9, & 16); 8:00 PM Friday & Saturday (August 3,4,10,11,17,18); and 2:00 PM Sunday (August 5 & 12). Advance Tickets are $18.00; $15.00 if purchased online; Day of show tickets are $25 General Admiss