Analyzing the Musical: Guys and Dolls

Analyzing the Musical: Guys and Dolls

Abstract

This research paper aims to talk about the musical named Guys and Dolls. The motive here is to analyze all the major aspects of the musical. Moreover, the production history, themes, characters, relationships, and patterns of this short stories based musical are also highlighted in this research paper.

Introduction

The musical Guys and Dolls are based on two short stories including “Blood pressure” and “the Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown”. These two short stories are written by Damon Runyon. Moreover, this musical is based on the lyrics and music composed by Frank Loesser. In addition to this, the book on which it is based on is written by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling. The musical Guys and Dolls also borrow some of its plot elements and characters from other Runyon stories. One of the most significant of those stories includes “Pick the winner”. It is premiered on Broadway in the year 1950, and its original production was comprised of 1200 performances. Moreover, this musical has won the award named Tony award for the best musical. The musical Guys and Dolls had numerous revivals in London and Broadway. In the year 1955, it also introduced a film adaptation, in which the starring included Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine, Marlon Brando, and Frank Sinatra. In the year 1951, Guys and Dolls were selected as the winner of the prize named as Pulitzer Prize for Drama. However, because of the troubles that the writer of this musical Abe Burrows had with House Un-American Activities Committee, the selection for this prize was vetoed by the Trustee of Columbia University, and as a result, the prize was not given that year to the musical Guys and Dolls.

Discussion

The producers Ernest Martin and CY Feuer conceived Guys and Dolls as an adaptation of the short stories of Damon Runyon. In these short stories, the characters of the New York underworld such as gamblers and gangsters that started spreading during the years 1920s and 1930s are highlighted. The unique dialect used in short stories is one of the most significant features of Damon Runyon's stories. Moreover, a mix of slang language that these characters use and highly formal language that others use is another significant feature used brilliantly in the short stories of Damon Runyon. The lyricist and composer of the musical Guys and Dolls is Frank Loesser who had a great experience in movie musicals as a lyricist and he spent most of the portion of his career in this field of music. The director of the musical was George S. Kaufman. Initially, the first version of this show was taken from the book of Joe Swerling, but this did not get as much appreciation. So, Martin and Feuer decided to take the help of radio comedy writer Abe Burrows who further wrote the new version of the book. Moreover, the critics considered the show as integrated, which means that the composer had done a great job in writing the songs ...