'Guys and Dolls' opens April 27 at Myers Dinner Theatre

Thursday, April 21, 2011
The cast of "Guys and Dolls" includes (front, from left) Brett Nickle (Hillsboro), Michael Moyer (Indianapolis), Sarah Shettle (Williamsport), Carey Shea (Terre Haute) and Mike Merrick ( Indianapolis). In the back row (from left) are Brandi Goldsby (Wingate), Dane Rogers (Indianapolis), Jodi Green Wingler (Danville), Bill Rubenstein (Waynetown), Dan Stockton (Danville), Jennifer House (Lafayette), Bryana Perry (Covington) and Valerie Cole (Lafayette). Wingler and Stockton are originally from Putnam County and regularly perform in Putnam County Playhouse productions.

HILLSBORO -- The classic gangster musical "Guys and Dolls" will open Wednesday, April 27 at the Myers Dinner Theatre in Hillsboro. The show runs through May 21 with matinees on weekdays and weekends and evening performances on weekends.

Two familiar Putnam County performers have rolls in the musical. Dan Stockton, who resides in Danville, plays Liver Lips Louie, as well as sharing the role of Harry the Horse, while Jodi Green Wingler, also now of Danville, portrays dance Miss Adelaide, the fiancé of the main character, Nathan Detroit. Wingler and Stockton are veterans of many Putnam County Playhouse productions.

Based on a book by Damon Runyon, the musical has songs from composer Frank Loesser like "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," "I'll Know," "Marry the Man Today," "Take Back Your Mink," "A Bushel and a Peck," "I've Never Been in Love Before," "More I Cannot Wish You" and "Luck Be a Lady." The show opened in New York in 1950, with three later revivals and a movie starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine.

Labeled "a musical fable of Broadway," the show features 1940s gamblers always looking for a crap game. Sky Masterson (Michael Moyer, Indianapolis) becomes enamored of Sarah Brown (Sarah Shettle, Williamsport), a Salvation Army "doll," and takes her to Havana where both of them experience something new. Nathan Detroit (Dane Rogers, Indianapolis) is the perennial host of the big crap game and the constant fiancé of Hot Box Dancer Miss Adelaide (Jodi Green Wingler). They've been engaged for 14 years.

Forced to hold his big game in the Salvation Army Mission and then in the sewer below the Big Apple, Nathan finds things get a bit "dicey," when Big Jule (Bill Rubenstein, Waynetown) arrives from Chicago looking for some action. Police Lt. Brannigan (Valerie Cole, Lafayette) constantly hounds the gamblers, including Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Mike Merrick, Indianapolis), Benny Southstreet (Carey Shea, Terre Haute), Liver Lips Louie (Dan Stockton) and Harry the Horse (Brett Nickle, Hillsboro, and Stockton on April 30 and May 6).

Distraction for the gamblers is provided by the Salvation Army missionaries, Gen. Matilda B. Cartwright (Bryana Perry, Covington), Abigail Abernathy (Jennifer House, Lafayette) and Agatha (Brandi Goldsby, Wingate). House and Goldsby double as dancers with Adelaide in her act at the Hot Box Club, and as the wildly wonderful club dancers in Havana.

The show is directed by Linnéa Leatherman (Indianapolis and Hillsboro); produced by Richard and Donna Myers, Waynetown; choreographed by Vania Van Kirk of Champaign; musically directed by Jeffrey Goodspeed, West Lafayette; with lighting design by Zayn Graves, Waynetown.

The show runs April 27 -- May 21, with scheduled performances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons and Friday and Saturday nights. Call the Myers Dinner Theatre office for details on times, dates, and prices for the specific shows. Group prices and show-only tickets are available.

For more information, check out the Myers Dinner Theatre website at www.myersdt.com and call the MDT office at 765-798-4902, ext. 2, for reservations. The theater is located at 108 Water St., Hillsboro.