GOOD MORNING BROADWAY FANS!! Nothing like waking up each morning to the best performances of the Great White Way as NEW YORK BROADWAY TOURS TOP 40 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN continues. It is 38 days away till Broadway?s biggest night of the year?. The 72nd Annual Tony Awards. Are you ready for more?

At # 38, we take you back in time to New York City in the 1920?s – 1930?s set in the underworld of gangsters, gamblers, and their massive bets. We are talking about the classic romantic musical comedy GUYS & DOLLS. Inspired by Damon Runyon?s short stories ?THE IDYLL OF MISS SARAH BROWN? ?PICK THE WINNER?, and ?BLOOD PRESSURE?, the show features a score written by Frank Loesser and a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.

From the 2009 cast, Tituss Burgess as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson? and the cast of that most recently Broadway revival perform the show?s 11:00 showstopper SIT DOWN! YOU?RE ROCKING THE BOAT. A little fun fact about this Tony performance was that it was known for a little technical malfunction at the beginning. As Burgess began to deliver his first line, his microphone went out. A stagehand ran up on stage to give him a hand held microphone to use for the rest of the number. SEE, IT?S ALL LIVE THEATER!!!

GUYS & DOLLS was first conceived by producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin. They were inspired by Damon Runyon short stories about the New York City underground world. From there, they hired the full creative team consisting of composer Frank Loesser along with book writer Jo Swerling (who became unusable) and rewritten by Abe Burrows. In addition, George C. Kaufmann came on board as the director.

The show originally premiered on Broadway in 1950 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre) running for 1,200 performances. The cast included?.

Robert Alda as ?Sky Masterson?,
Isabel Bigley as ?Sarah Brown?,
Sam Levene as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Vivian Blaine (later Iva Withers) as ?Miss Adelaine?,
and Stubby Kaye as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

The original production was nominated and won all 5 of it?s Tony Awards in 1951 including Best Musical in 1951. In addition, that very same year GUYS & DOLLS went on to become one of the few musicals ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

From there, the show went on to become a worldwide hit including London?s West End. It went on to be revived 6 times here in the Big Apple.

The first 3 revivals revival (1955, 1965, and 1966) were all mounted as short runs and were all produced at New York City Center.

The 1955 engagement ran for only 31 performances. This cast included?

Ray Shaw as ?Sky Masterson?
Leila Martin as ?Sarah Brown?
Mr. Walter Matthau as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Helen Gallagher as Miss Adelaide?,
and Oggie Small as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

It did not receive any Tony nominations or wins that year.

The 1965 engagement ran for only 15 performances. This cast included?

the late Jerry Orbach as ?Sky Masterson?,
Anita Gillette as ?Sarah Brown?,
Alan King as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Sheila MacRae as ?Miss Adelaine?,
and Jack De Lon as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?

It was nominated for 1 Tony Award that year for Best Featured Actor in A Musical (for Jerry Orbach) but lost the category.

And the 1966 engagement ran for 26 performances. This cast included?

Hugh O’Brian as ?Sky Masterson?,
Barbara Meister as ?Sarah Brown?
Jan Murray as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Vivian Blaine reprising her role as ?Miss Adelaide?,
and Dale Malone as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

It did not receive any Tony nominations or wins that year.

The 4th Broadway revival happened in 1976 playing the Broadway Theatre for a total of 251 performances. Under the direction of Billy Wilson, this revival was known for a having a full African American cast and it featured new Motown style arrangements of the songs by Danny Holgate and Horace Ott. This cast included?

James Randolph as ?Sky Masterson?,
Ernestine Jackson as ?Sarah Brown?,
the late Robert Guillaume as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Norma Donaldson as ?Miss Adelaine?,
and Ken Page as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

It was nominated for 3 Tony Awards including Best Revival in 1977 but lost all its categories.

The 5th Broadway revival happened in 1992 playing the Martin Beck Theatre (now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre) for a total of 1,143 performances. Under the direction of Jerry Zaks, this revival was well known as the most successful American remounting of the show since the show?s original 1950 Broadway Debut. This cast included?

Peter Gallagher as ?Sky Masterson?,
Josie de Guzman as ?Sarah Brown?,
Nathan Lane (Tony nominee this year) as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Faith Prince as ?Miss Adelaine?,
and Walter Bobbie as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

During its 1992 revival, PBS filmed a one hour documentary about the making of that productions cast album. Entitled GUYS & DOLLS: OFF THE RECORD, it was aired on Great Performances that same year but was not released on DVD till 2007.

The 1992 revival was nominated for 8 Tony Awards that year winning 4 including Best Revival of a Musical.

The most recent Broadway revival (as seen in this video) happened in 2009 playing the Nederlander Theatre (which was renovated to what it is today following RENT?s 12 year Broadway run). This production (under the direction of Des McAnuff), ran for 141 performances. The cast included?

Craig Berko as ?Sky Masterson?,
Kate Jennings Grant as ?Sarah Brown?,
Oliver Platt as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Lauren Graham as ?Miss Adelaine?,
and Tituss Burgess as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

It was nominated for 2 Tony Awards that year including Best Revival of a Musical but lost all categories.

In addition to its success on stage, GUYS AND DOLLS was a huge hit on the big screen. The original film version was released in 1955 from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The cast featured?

Marlon Brando as ?Sky Masterson?,
Jean Simmons as ?Sarah Brown?,
Frank Sinatra as ?Nathan Detroit?,
Vivian Blaine reprising her stage role of ?Miss Adelaide?,
and Stubby Kaye as ?Nicely-Nicely Johnson?.

The film won the Golden Globe for Best Picture in 1966.

GUYS AND DOLLS is still one of the most popular musicals performed in Regional, Community, and schools everywhere.

How show stopping is this catchy show tune?

#TonyAwards #CountdownToTheTonys #BroadwaysBiggestNight #NYBTTonyAwardsCountdown #NewYorkBroadwayTours #Top40Countdown #ThisIsBroadway

2009 Tony Awards. See a Broadway Show Today!

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Author: NYBroadwayTours