playbill vip

GUYS AND DOLLS JR. opens with a bustling street scene alive with Times Square characters. Some gamblers enter and trade tips about different horses they are considering placing bets on from the daily scratch sheet (“Fugue for Tinhorns”). As the gamblers finish their pitch, Miss Sarah Brown and the Mission Band enter playing a hymn(“Follow the Fold”). She warns the gamblers of the evils of their ways. As her sermon falls on deaf ears, she and the band exit dejectedly. Lt. Brannigan, of the new York Police Department, enters and warns the gamblers not to try to organize their crap game. Nathan Detroit enters and after Brannigan exits, complains that there is nowhere for the crap game to take place, unless he can come up with one thousand dollars to rent the Biltmore Garage. Nathan, Benny, Nicely and the gamblers sing of their frustration in, “The Oldest Established”. Sky Masterson is rumored to be in town and Nathan tries to think up a bet to place with Sky that he cannot lose to come up with the thousand dollars for the game. Meanwhile, Adelaide enters with the Hot Box Girls and she gives Nathan his anniversary present (they’ve been engaged for fourteen years!). She warns him not to try to organize his crap game. She exits as Sky Masterson enters. Nathan has instructed his boys to get the lowdown on how much cheesecake and how much strudel is sold at a popular restaurant. With advance information, Nathan attempts to sucker Sky into a thousand dollar bet. Sky relates a story his father told him and refuses the bet. Nathan then bets him he can’t take a certain woman on a trip to Havana. Sky take the bait and Nathan names Miss Sarah Brown, the missionary as the woman. Sky realizes his difficulty as Scene 1 ends.

Sky goes to the Save-a-Soul Mission to get a date with Miss Sarah Brown. He and Sarah discuss the lack of sinners in the mission and Sky proposes a trade: He will personally guarantee 12 sinners for the mission if Sarah will accompany him to Havana for dinner. She refuses, saying that the man she will love will not be a gambler. Sky asks her to describe the man of her dreams. She tells him that she’ll know when the right man comes along (“I’ll Know”). Their song ends in a kiss that quickly turns into a slap in the face for Sky.

At the Hot Box, Adelaide and the Hot Box Girls perform a number (“A Bushel and a Peck”). After the show, Adelaide suggests that it time that they finally got married. She warns Nathan not to start his crap game again and after he hurriedly exits to do just that she sings of her frustration (“Adelaide’s Lament”).

Benny and Nicely have been watching Sky follow Sarah and the Mission band. They hope Sky will fail in his attempt to take Miss Sarah to Havana so that Nathan will win the one thousand dollars to hold the crap game. They observe that men all over the world have a weakness for falling in love (“Guys and Dolls”).

Sarah and the band return to the mission. Arvide Abernathy, Sarah’s Grandfather and the bass drum player, encourages her to pay some attention to Sky. General Cartwright, the head of the Save-a-Soul Mission, arrives and explains that the Broadway mission’s poor performance in attracting sinners is forcing her to close the branch. Sky appears and protests the close of the mission. He reminds Sarah of his IOU for one dozen sinners. She then guarantees the General that there will be one dozen genuine sinners in the mission the following evening.

All the craps shooters, including Big Jule (a very tough, gun-toting gangster from Chicago) are wearing red carnations as their badge of entry for the game, which still has no location. Brannigan appears, notices all the red carnations and asks Nathan what’s going on. Benny sees Adelaide with some of the other hot box dancers and covers for Nathan, telling Brannigan that the carnations are for guests of Nathan’s bachelor party. Adelaide hears this and excitedly tells Nathan that they will elope the following evening after the show. As Adelaide exits, Nathan tells Benny that he still has not received money from Sky. Benny wonders if Sky actually took Sarah to Havana.