
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995                   TAG: 9502170010
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: EXTRA   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BROADWAY DAZZLE

IT IS HARD to picture today, but imagine New York's Times Square as a place where the girls were dolls, the guys wore hats and the worst vice in sight was the corner dice game.

That is the fabled setting of the musical "Guys and Dolls," which first opened in New York 45 years ago, and was recently revived on Broadway to wide acclaim. It was heralded as a celebration of the vitality New York and its musical theater once took for granted, a show that defines Broadway dazzle.

Now, the second touring production of the revival arrives for shows Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center auditorium and Monday night at Virginia Tech's Burruss Auditorium. The production is a pared-down version of the first national tour that duplicated the Broadway revival.

Still, this "Guys and Dolls" promises to deliver much from the revival, which captured four Tony Awards in 1992, including Best Revival of a Play or Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Actress in a Musical for Faith Prince. Prince, a former Lynchburg resident, is not part of the cast coming here.

In 1951, the original "Guys and Dolls" won eight Tony Awards.

For many, the story is familiar. "Guys and Dolls" is a perennial favorite of community theater groups and school drama clubs. It was also made into a movie starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.

Based on the short story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" by Damon Runyon, the plot revolves around Nathan Detroit, the perpetually harried organizer of the oldest established floating craps game in New York, and Adelaide, his ever-hopeful, good-time girlfriend to whom he has been engaged for 14 years.

Also along for the ride is high-rolling gangster Sky Masterson who bets he can trick Sarah Brown of the Save-Your-Soul Mission into joining him for a dinner date in Havana. (Remember, this is before Fidel Castro.)

How Sky and Nathan gamble their way into the doors of the Save-Your-Soul Mission, while Sarah and Adelaide lead them into the bonds of matrimony provides the plot.

In the Broadway original, Robert Alda, Alan Alda's father, played Sky. For the 1992 revival, Sky was played by screen actor Peter Gallagher. In Roanoke, the role will be played by stage actor Ross Neill.

A cast of assorted gamblers, cartoonish crooks and nightclub dolls fill out the musical numbers written by famed Broadway composer and lyricist Frank Loesser.

Of course, the backdrop throughout is Damon Runyon's mythic Times Square.

Runyon, a journalist and short-story writer, became famous for his stories about New York's colorful side, and for his exaggerated, street-smart use of local slang. Many of his stories were collected in the book ``Guys and Dolls'' published in 1931.

``Guys and Dolls'': Tonight, 8 p.m., Roanoke Civic Center. Tickets, $30.50, $25.50, $15.50, at box office (981-1201), TicketMaster outlets and charge by phone (343-8100). Monday, 7:30 p.m., Virginia Tech's Burruss Auditorium, Blacksburg. Tickets, $16, $8 for age 12 and under (231-5615).

by CNB