Houston Christian's Guys and Dolls

Opening up the Spring Season at Houston Christian is the upcoming performance of Guys and Dolls, presented by HC theater works. Set in the Depression era, Guys and Dolls portrays a group of gamblers and the women who love them, focusing on high-roller Sky Masterson (played by senior Tony Stevens) who falls in love with mission worker Sarah Brown (played by senior Susan Allison), and rapscallion Nathan Detroit (played by senior Mason Nuño), who is engaged for 14 years to Miss Adelaide (played by senior Lauren Jean Townsend), a headliner at the Hot Box Club.

The play’s plot line advances into Nathan’s quest for a safe place for his famous floating crap game, as Miss Adelaide persists in convincing Nathan to marry her. In the meantime, Sarah, who mistakes Sky for setting up an illegal game at the mission, attempts to fight her affection for the crapshooter.

The three crapshooters: Yianni Rokas, Cooper Clarke, Nate Braquet.

The winter musical is full of capable gymnasts, dancers, actors, and musicians, who each contributed their own talents and skills to together create the awe-inspiring and heart-touching performance. With an opportunity to interview some of the lead roles and our director Mr. Bobby Linhart, I was opened up to the bits and pieces that made the musical so incredible. Tony Stevens, who plays the big-city gambler Sky Masterson, responded to the question “what was the hardest part of playing such a major role” with: “it was difficult to find the emotional changes that occurs as Sky transitions from wanting a wordly life and wordly success, to finding true meaning of his life, and his love. It took effort to be able to convey those little details.” To Tony, “you simply can’t get this experience anywhere else. In the musical, you would have basketball players interacting with students in tech, and because of it, relationships and bonds are created.”

For our Sarah Brown, Susan Allison, the Guys and Dolls experience was one-of-a-kind. For Susan, the most memorable part is getting to play a role that is so different from her own personality: “Sarah Brown is such a challenging role, but I’ve learned so much from her these past 6 months. Guys and Dolls was also the first musical I ever did as a kid and it feels pretty special to be coming back to this show as a senior in high school!” Mr. Linhart agreed with both Tony and Susan. He told me that with 125 students participating in the musical, coordinating all of it into one harmonious presentation is the challenge. There are such large variances in a musical – dancers, actors, instrumentalists, costumers, etc. And as the director, he has to make sure everything is right and strong.

The gambling scene featuring Bella Holt, Sophia Knobbe, Max McCarty, Major Tarwater, William Halverson.

To Mr. Linhart, the most challenging part is to coordinate all these aspects, and to seek order out of chaos. As a "Golden Age" musical (pre 1960s), Guys and Dolls is very difficult to perform. Nowadays, musicals are easier, but back then everything was complicated: the music was thick, and it was written for big casts. The musical has been done over and over since its creation, so this year, Mr. Linhart decided to approach it in a unique way. He implemented little nuances in set design and choreography, like LED walls for the background, tap dancing for the dancers, and even tricks like amazing back flips. Mr. Linhart said that all the changes and innovations he made is to make people surprised and to appreciate golden age musicals.

Everyone has put in so much effort to build up this marvelous presentation, but the most extraordinary part of this masterpiece is not the show itself, but the journey to the show. Throughout the preparation for the final performance, there is community, pride, bonding, and encouragement, not only in the department but also Houston Christian as a whole. It is an opportunity of creating great memories, memories that will live on in everyone who participated, and become a part of them.