Guys & Dolls

Stumptown Stages is bringing Guys & Dolls to the Winningstad Theatre this October, and it's a show that doesn't need much introduction. It's a Tony Award-winning musical, one of those few that most people recognize by name even if they've never seen it on stage. The story is a classic New York City romp: Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler, bets that he can make any woman in Long Island's Save-a-Thousand Club fall in love with him in a week. He picks Sarah Brown, a straight-laced mission worker, and the two spend the rest of the show trying to outmaneuver each other. Around them, the city's underworld keeps turning, with Nathan Detroit trying to find a place to run his illegal craps game and the police keeping a close eye on the whole thing.

It's a comedy built on the friction between two very different worlds—the gamblers and the mission workers—and the sparks that fly when they collide. The songs are part of that, too, and they've been staples of the musical theater songbook for decades. If you've ever heard Luck Be a Lady or Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat, you've already had a taste of what this show is about. It's a bright, fast-paced piece of theater that works as well as a first-time experience as it does for someone who's seen it before.

Stumptown Stages is the company behind the production, and they're staging it at the Winningstad Theatre, which is right downtown at 1111 SW Broadway. The show runs on Saturday, October 17, with the curtain going up at 2 PM. It's a matinee, so it's an easy one to fit into a Saturday afternoon without having to clear your whole evening. If you're in Portland and looking for a classic musical to catch, this is a good place to start.