Guys And Dolls

Producing a musical is always a crap shoot, but Washington's Arena Stage has come up with a winner in its sleek, smart and funny production of "Guys and Dolls."This is Broadway-caliber work on the part of director Charles Randolph-Wright, choreographer Ken Roberson, the design team and almost all of the cast (many of whom, including star Maurice Hines, have Broadway credentials).Based on the characters created by Damon Runyon, with a score by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, "Guys and Dolls," which opened in 1950, hails from an era when the words "musical" and "comedy" seemed inseparably linked.

With its concert version of Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls" Saturday, J. Ernest Green and the Annapolis Chorale moved into a new musical arena without leaving Maryland Hall.The singers have gone this season from Mozart to Motown, from Handel to Mascagni and now to Broadway, without sets. With the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra, the chorale and six soloists, the stage was so full that sets would have gotten in the way of the music.Green and the chorale used the minimal staging effectively, so the performance was never static.

Maurice Hines stars as Nathan Detroit in director Charles Randolph-Wright's racially mixed revival of the classic 1950 musical "Guys and Dolls," currently in previews at Washington's Arena Stage.The Abe Burrows-Jo Swerling-Frank Loesser musical, based on the stories of Damon Runyon, focuses on the unlikely connection between a group of underworld gamblers and the do-gooders at the Save-a-Soul Mission.Hines plays Nathan Detroit, proprietor of "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York."

Pat Roberts and her daughter Anna will be featured this weekend in the Moonlight Troupers' production of "Guys and Dolls."Anna Roberts, a senior at Broadneck High School, is playing a leading role as Sarah Brown, the head of the Save-a-Soul Mission. Pat Roberts plays her daughter's boss, Gen. Matilda Cartwright, who leads the network of Save-a-Soul missions.The mother of three, Pat Roberts wanted to perform on stage with her youngest child before Anna goes to college. To make it happen, she took an acting class at Anne Arundel Community College to add to a resume that includes vocal training and backstage theater experience with Children's Theatre of Annapolis and Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.

Moonlight Troupers' "Guys and Dolls," which opened last weekend at Anne Arundel Community College, is closer to a Broadway show than a community college production in terms of the talented cast, skilled directing, great staging and lively orchestra in the pit.Robert F. Kauffman, director and head of the AACC drama department, has assembled an excellent cast and crew to bring to life the colorful gamblers, gangsters, missionaries and showgirls from Damon...

SPRING is upon us, bringing Opening Day fever, sprucing-up chores in the yard and the sight of dimpled, droopy body parts that haven't seen the light of day since September.But it's not too late to start that long-delayed exercise plan.Sweatpants and Dance, a low-impact exercise program for the nonspandex crowd that is sponsored by the county Department of Recreation and Parks, meets from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday evenings at George Fox Middle School.George Kelch, program leader, said the self-directed dance activity attracts men and women.

Shamrocks, leprechauns and all things green will descend on St. Jane Frances parish hall in Riviera Beach today. It's time to celebrate at the 48th annual St. Patrick's Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free.During the day, there will be games and prizes, face painting and a crafts corner, all geared to children. After 5 p.m., the bazaar changes to appeal to a more mature crowd, but there will still be games for youngsters and teens.A variety of wheels and raffle contests, including the big Winning of the Green raffle with a $1,000 winner-take-all jackpot, will tempt those feeling lucky this Friday the 13th.

Born Alfred Damon Runyan, his mother died by the time he was seven years old. His father supported the family in Colorado by writing for the Pueblo Evening Post, but exercised little control over his young son. Runyon spent his early adolescence in gangs and running messages in the red light district.At 15, he started writing alongside his father, and when an editor misspelled the younger's name, he kept the change. Later in his career another editor, at the New York American, found the three-name byline pretentious and removed Alfred.

THE DRAMA department at Liberty High School will present its spring production, "Guys and Dolls," Friday and Saturday at 7: 30 p.m. The show also will be presented April 26 and 27.With a cast and crew of nearly 60, this production tells the story of a group of gangsters, their gals and their favorite pastime -- gambling.The show, the third major production of the year, is co-directed by drama department veterans Kathy Schnorr and Cathy James.Featured in this musical are seniors Andrea Hussle, Katy Schuman, Ken Fischer and Kevin Schreiner.

One night Ruth Williamson was belting out "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" from the stage of New York's Martin Beck Theatre.The house was going crazy with applause. It was the kind of theater magic that results when an audience loves a show. She had a funny feeling in her throat and it wasn't an emotional response to composer Frank Loesser's words and music for the score for "Guys and Dolls."The vocal cords of the Baltimore-born actress had hemorrhaged."It happened when night after night I had to hit that high note, the high C, the money note, " she said one day last week in her Manhattan apartment.

Damon Runyon's colorful characters brought to musical life by composer Frank Loesser's 1950 hit Guys and Dolls remains high on most lists of great Broadway musicals. It seemed a safe bet that this timeless show about gamblers done by a lively young cast would provide an entertaining evening and continue Anne Arundel Community College's proud performing arts tradition at Pascal Center. The bet proved risky on opening night last Friday, when Moonlight Troupers' Guys and Dolls fell far short of expectations, based on nearly every Troupers show I'd seen over the last dozen years - including a terrific Guys and Dolls done 10 years ago by a talented cast against a great Manhattan backdrop.

Forget Obama, McCain: new Paris Hilton video revives her fake candidacy Paris Hilton is back on the campaign trail appearing in a second video in support of her bid for the presidency. In the video posted on FunnyOrDie.com Wednesday, Hilton gets some advice from the man many Americans came to admire as the chief executive through the eight years of his West Wing administration, President Jed Bartlet, otherwise known as Martin Sheen. As she did in the first video where she announced her candidacy, Hilton offers her views on the issue of the day, saying the government should "lower inflated interest rates so it's not impossible for [people]

You know how you get a song stuck in your head? Ever since the fur started flying in the state prosecutor's investigation of Mayor Sheila Dixon, I keep hearing that song from Guys and Dolls , the one sung by a doll who was shocked, just shocked, at what a guy expected in return for his gifts: Take back your mink, Take back your pearls. What made you think That I was one of those girls? Ever since that first caveman bonked a furry beast and gave its pelt to his best cavelady, that has been the question: Just what does a guy get for giving a doll a mink?

Teamwork, discipline and mental focus are all part of the experience for midshipmen at the Naval Academy. They come together in perhaps a lesser-known way in the academy's music department, which will present the Midshipmen Classical Concert on Sunday and a two-weekend run starting Feb. 22 of the academy's winter musical, Guys and Dolls. "There are a number of very talented midshipmen, and this is a wonderful opportunity to hear some of our future leaders of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps demonstrate this aspect," said Monte Maxwell, in his 12th year as department chairman.

Frances Bergen, 84, a model and actress Frances Bergen, 84, a model and actress who married ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and was the mother of actress Candice Bergen, died Oct. 2 at a Los Angeles hospital after a long illness, Born Frances Westerman in Birmingham, Ala., she moved to Los Angeles with her mother after her father died. At 19, she attended a performance of The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show and caught the attention of the vaudevillian who, with his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, hosted radio's then-highest-rated program.

Cy Feuer, 95, who with Ernest H. Martin produced some of Broadway's biggest hits including Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the movie version of Cabaret, died Wednesday at his home in new York City. Feuer and Martin -- as they were billed -- had five hit musicals in a row, starting in 1948 with Where's Charley? It was followed by Guys and Dolls (1950), Can-Can (1953), The Boy Friend (1954) and Silk Stockings (1955). Nominated for nine Tonys, Mr. Feuer won three -- one for Guys and Dolls and two for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

NORTHWEST Dawn services planned Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Taneytown will hold an Easter sunrise service at 6:25 a.m. today in the church cemetery on Roberts Mill Road. In the event of rain, the service will be held in the church at 38 W. Baltimore St. Breakfast will be served after the service. Information: 410-751-1203. Keysville Evangelical Lutheran Church, 7301 Keysville Road, Keymar, will hold an Easter sunrise service at 6:15 a.m. today. Information: 410-756-6064. St. Luke's (Winter's)

In last weekend's performances of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls, J. Ernest Green and the Annapolis Chorale, Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and soloists again proved that music is the one essential component of all classic Broadway shows, and music is best served in a concert setting. Green's minimalist staging and judicious use of dialogue made other more elaborate productions seem superfluous. Costumes were well-suited to the characters, with the guys looking sharp and the dolls fetching, most notably Katie Hale as an adorable Miss Adelaide and Amy Cofield doing wonders for her plain gray uniform.

Where can one go and experience New York nightlife, Havana's dance clubs and Christian missionaries all in one night? The answer is a performance of Guys and Dolls, the Tony Award-winning musical that was brought to life last week at Centennial High School. The story takes place in New York, where Nathan Detroit, a craps-game organizer, is desperate for money to fund his next game. He makes a $1,000 bet with the notorious gambler Sky Masterson that Masterson cannot take Sarah Brown, a conservative missionary, to Havana.

The Ellicott City Business Association will hold its 28th Midnight Merriment event on Main Street in Historic Ellicott City on Dec. 2. Santa will arrive in a parade with an antique firetruck and cars on Main Street at 7:30 p.m. He will be available for photographs until 9 p.m. Strolling entertainment will include carolers, choruses, bagpipers and musical guests. Free trolley service will be available until midnight. Information: 410-750-7676. Viking Backers to sell trees, greens The Mount Hebron Viking Backers will begin their sale of fresh-cut evergreen trees and greens Nov. 26 at the school, 9440 Old Frederick Road (Route 99)