Tell me about Guys and Dolls.

There's a rumour my school will be doing it this spring. I'm familiar with a lot of the music but not the plot; I've only seen the movie once when I was little and I've never seen it live. I'm trying to be prepared since most of our school's most talented kids graduated last year, leaving me sort of at the top, so I'm pretty hopeful about getting a part.

It is also my understanding that there's only two significant female roles, so if anyone has any idea I'd like to know the range required for them. And the director is unusual in that he likes to hear songs from the show, so which of them would be best for an audition?

The two female leads are Sarah and Adelaide. Adelaide is in that traditional Mary Martin "belter" range, I think from Ab3-Eb5. Sarah's more on the soprano side, as she has to go up to a G#5 in "I'll Know," but it's not like Queen of the Night material or anything. She has to do a little bit of belting, what with "If I Were a Bell" and all, but she's more of the traditional singer type. Basically, she's the main singing role, but Adelaide being a bit more of a comic acting part.

edited 7th Sep '11 8:43:18 PM by Pannic

Adelaide is a performer in a nightclub. In most stage productions, it's generally played as a kind of cheesy nightclub. She's definitely comic.

A couple of her scenes from the movie:

• "Sue me" (duet with Nathan)

• Take Back You Mink (one of the nightclub performances)

• Pet Me Poppa another nightclub performance.

• Adelaide's Lament solo, offstage.

There's a running gag that she has a cold throughout the whole show, and she's usually played with a strong Brooklyn accent. From a performer's viewpoint, Adelaide may not be the lead, but it's far and away the juicier part.

edited 7th Sep '11 10:57:00 PM by Madrugada

The cat thingy isn't in the show, however. Instead, her first song is "A Bushel and a Peck."

Oh, yeah, that's right. It's been a while since I've seen either version. I still think Adelaide is the juicier part...

edited 7th Sep '11 11:29:33 PM by Madrugada

Thanks guys (:

I'll probably go for Sarah, then. I'm an alto but I've got a fairly big range (I'm new to pitch notation but if I googled correctly my range is approximately D3-D6, with F3-A5 being most comfortable) so vocally I could cover either part, but I find Adelaide's inflection to be difficult. I can do something like it but I'm not too good with character voices and accents and it probably sounds silly. On the other hand, Adelaide looks a lot more fun (sans "If I Were a Bell", anyway).

Yeah, Sarah's drunk scene almost makes up for the wimpiness of the rest of her part. (Personal opinion, of course.)

That whole part is hilarious.

When my high school did it, our Sarah had a bit of a blooper. Normally, the exchange goes:

• Sarah: "What's the flavoring?"
• Sky: "Bacardi"

Then later

• Sarah: "Doesn't Bacardi have alcohol in it?"
• Sky: "Only enough to act as a preservative."

However, our Sarah said the second part first. So later

• Sarah: "Didn't you say Bacardi has alcohol in it?"
• Sky: "... I don't recall."

edited 8th Sep '11 2:07:49 PM by Pannic

Yeah, so basically there's Adelaide, who is generally portrayed as more of a comic figure, though she does need to have more of a belter range, and there's Sarah, who is more in the soprano range. She's the heroine of the story. Unfortunately, that's it for female characters, so if you're not at the top of the pack (like me), you get stuck in the Mission Band.

Or as one of the Hot Box girls. But yeah, chorus.

edited 10th Sep '11 1:31:04 PM by Madrugada

Oh, I thought this was going to be asking if Guys and Dolls was any good.

The answer to which is: Yeah, it's pretty good. Standard 1920s-to-1950s-era New York romcom musical fare, but kind of the progenitor of a lot of it. Still funny in parts. The supposed "comic relief" romance is more interesting than the main plot about this one religious church type girl and an irresponsible gambler who would NEVER GET ALONG OMG except THEN THEY DO OMG, which kind of makes it sound a lot worse than it is, but you get the idea - and then the subplot about gambling itself is WAY more interesting than either of those romantic plots.

We put on a production of it in high school (I was in a minor role, essentially an extra), and I have to say I think we pretty much rocked it. They've got a lot of talented theater kids at my old school.

edited 23rd Sep '11 5:27:59 PM by Sporkaganza