The cast of Guys and Dolls pose after a final run-through on April 23. The cast, crew and directors worked for weeks to create the show, which was performed live in Riverside’s auditorium April 24-26. Photo by Monique Taylor
By Isong Eshiet and Jaida Cooper Parrish
As Riverside’s spring musical hit the stage on April 24, audiences saw lively music, outrageous characters, and stunning costumes.
But what they didn’t see was the months of dedication and creativity behind the scenes.
Guys and Dolls is set in New York City. It’s a romantic comedy starring Nathan Detroit, a gambler who tries to set up the biggest craps game in town. As he searches for the cash to do it, his girlfriend bugs him about being engaged for fourteen years and a detective tries to arrest him. “Guys and Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City,” according to a synopsis published by Music Theater International. “But eventually everyone ends up right where they belong.”
For weeks, the cast worked hard to perfect their roles and performances.
“People think theater is just learning lines and songs, but it’s so much more than memorizing a few sentences,” says senior Palace Leonard, who plays the role of Angie the Ox.
Once the musical was chosen, the next big challenge arrived: casting. Theater teacher Monique Taylor and chorus teacher Jill Boliek recorded and reviewed students’ auditions, then assigned roles. “During auditions, something unexpected may come up, such as an improv dance routine,” said Leonard. “Or the acting directors may ask you to do something different with your voice or the way you act a specific way with the character you’re auditioning for.”
Taylor and Boliek found it especially difficult to select roles this year because there were many talented students and a limited number of large roles in the play.
“At the very first rehearsal, which was a week or so after auditions,” said Leonard, “we all were told how frustrating and exhausting selecting the cast for this year’s musical.”
Next came weeks of rehearsals. Beginning in mid-February, the cast did a full read-through of the script. Taylor did a run-through about the different characters and how they should be portrayed, then students practiced their lines and movements. Meanwhile, dance teacher Kristin Duncan led dance rehearsals two to three times a week and Boliek ran music rehearsals one to two times a week.
Additionally, the stage crew helped measure and create costumes and borrow items from different schools. As the show grew closer, students rehearsed from 4:30 to 7:30 every night with mics and sets.
Finally, it was time to perform.
“There is a lot more running around behind the stage than most people think,” said Leonard. “The cast is running to get to their places where they enter onto stage from, the crew is running around making sure the cast isn’t missing props and ensuring everyone who is needed for the next scene is backstage, and makeup artists are looking for characters to do or fix their makeup. Other than that, everyone is doing their own thing, whether eating, practicing with scene partners, yapping, or making silly videos.”
