Guys and Dolls
by Fredericksburg Theater Company (FTC)
Apr. 17 - Apr. 18 (2017)
Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls ran for 1,200 performances when it opened on Broadway in 1950. Set in Damon Runyon's mythical New York City, Guys and Dolls is an oddball romantic comedy. Gambler Nathan Detroit tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide, laments that they've been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson, for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary, Sarah Brown, as a result.
Guys and Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong.
Auditions for FTC’s Summer Musical, Guys and Dolls are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, April 17th and 18th, at 7 pm at the Steve W. Shepherd Theater, located at 1668 U.S Highway 87 South in Fredericksburg. All roles are available for auditions.
Please prepare one musical theater song from the Golden Age of Broadway library that is no more than 32 measures in length, that best features your vocal and acting ability. The Golden Age of Broadway is the years spanning 1943 to 1959, or in musical terms Oklahoma! to Sound of Music and everything in between. Please have your audition piece memorized. An accompanist, CD player, and the ability to play mp3 tracks will be available.
Please be prepared to sing with an accompanist or a backing track. Please, no a cappella audition. If you are only interested in a chorus role, there will be a brief group audition using one of the chorus songs from Guys and Dolls. Those seeking a principal role must sing a prepared solo musical selection. There will also be a brief dance audition and cold readings from the script directly after the singing auditions.
FTC is looking to cast around 30 performers for their Season 21 opener. If cast, attendance to Tech Week rehearsals for Guys and Dolls, June 12th – 18th is mandatory, as well as attendance at all performances. Performance dates are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays June 16th – July 2nd. If you have further questions, please call production director Kerry Goff at 325-660-1843.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
Nicely-nicely Johnson: Just like his name suggests, he is the nicest and cheeriest of the gambling crooks. High-spirited and a bit naïve, but sincere and genuine. Nathan's loyal friend and lackey.
Gender: Male
Age: 30 to 45
Vocal range top: B5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Benny Southstreet: Nathan's right-hand man and a gambler himself. Smart, slick, always moving and shaking, but with what he thinks are Nathan's best interest at heart.
Gender: Male
Age: 30 to 45
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Sarah Brown: A pretty, bright-eyed woman who serves as Sergeant of the local Mission. She fully believes in her worthy cause and wishes to convert the gambling sinners to saints. Falls unexpectedly in love with Sky along the way. She is prudish and uptight, but eventually lets go.
Gender: Female
Age: 20 to 40
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: B3
Arvide Abernathy: The bass drum and cymbal player in the Mission band, he is Sarah's loving grandfather. Wise and sweet, he wants nothing but the best for her.
Gender: Male
Age: 50 to 70
Vocal range top: F5 Vocal range bottom: D4
Harry The Horse: A crook and gambler. He is a tough guy with dollar signs as his bottom line. Brings Big Jule into Nathan's craps game and backs his cheating, but is also a man of his word in the gambling community.
Gender: Male
Age: 35 to 55
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Lt. Brannigan: A New York police officer who is on to Nathan's illegal craps games and is dead-set on catching him. A tough, no-nonsense character.
Gender: Male
Age: 40 to 60
Nathan Detroit: A good-hearted gambler and craps game organizer who could never hit the big-time. He loves Adelaide, but cannot quit his gambling ways. A broke schemer with unwitting ways.
Gender: Male
Age: 35 to 45
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: D4
Miss Adelaide: Nathan's fiancé and a lead performer at the Hot Box nightclub. She loves Nathan more than anything in the world and desperately wants to get married. Pretty, outspoken, stubborn.
Gender: Female
Age: 25 to 40
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Sky Masterson: A high-stakes gambler whose luck never seems to run out, and a wild card that surprises himself when he falls in love with the unlikeliest of women. Suave, smart, handsome.
Gender: Male
Age: 35 to 45
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: B3
Big Jule: A big time craps player from Chicago who uses a gun and his own pair of rigged dice to bully his way into never losing. Tough looking. A bit of an oaf.
Gender: Male
Age: 30 to 50
Vocal range top: G5
Vocal range bottom: F3
Ensemble: Sightseers, Mission Band (Agatha, Calvin, Martha), Crap Shooters (Liver Lips Louie, Angie The Ox, Rusty Charlie), Hot Box Girls, Waiters, and Cuban Dancers.
