Synopsis

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Act I

After the overture the curtain rises to reveal bustling New York City in the age of Damon Runyon. In a pantomime of never-ceasing activities, New Yorkers, tourists, gamblers, crooks, cops, drunks, missionaries and dancers go about their business in the hustle and bustle. ("Runyonland"). Three small-time gamblers, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Benny Southstreet, and Rusty Charlie, emerge from the crowd and are arguing over which horse will win tomorrow's big race ("Fugue for Tinhorns") when the band members of the Save-a-Soul Mission, a local Salvation Army-like organization, pass by. Their leader, the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown, begins a fervent street corner sermon to all the passers-by, encouraging them to quit the evils of drinking, lying and especially gambling ("Follow the Fold") and promoting a revival meeting at their mission the coming Sunday. Her message goes unheeded, and the Missionaries leave dejectedly.

Nicely and Benny run across Harry the Horse, a hood out of Brooklyn, who is looking for some gambling action. He has brought along a high roller from Chicago and wishes to know the location of the floating crap game run by Nicely and Benny's employer, Nathan Detroit. The three are confronted by the local policeman, Lt. Brannigan and Harry makes himself scarce. Nathan Detroit arrives and, after getting rid of Brannigan with a few well placed insults, bemoans his lot to his sidekicks. As a large number of "high-rollers" are in town, Nathan is pressured to find a place to hold his illegal game, but due to Brannigan's strong-armed police activity, he has found only one likely spot: the Biltmore Hotel garage. The owner's requirement, however, is a $1,000 security deposit, which Nathan does not have. ("The Oldest Established").

Nicely suggests that Nathan borrow the money from Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to bet on virtually anything. Nathan knows that Sky will not give money as a loan, but he will make a wager for that amount. As Nathan attempts to think of a bet he cannot lose, his fiancee Miss Adelaide enters on her way to lunch with some chorus girls from her nightclub act. She is overjoyed to see Nathan and presents him with a belt for the fourteenth anniversary of their engagement, which has no end in sight. This sad arrangement has given Adelaide a cold. Adelaide is unaware that Nathan is still running the crap game, so she must be fobbed off so Nathan can meet with Sky.

Nathan encounters Sky, who is only in town for a few days before he flies to Havana, Cuba and attempts to draw him into a bet involving information he has received ahead of time, but Sky sees through him and gives him a lecture his father had once told him about sucker bets. Nathan observes that Sky is traveling alone to Havana, and Sky brags that he could get any woman he wanted to accompany him...if he wanted to. Nathan then proposes a bet which he believes he cannot lose: Sky must take a doll of Nathan's choice to dinner in Havana. Inspired by the passing Save-A-Soul Mission band, Nathan chooses none other than Sargent Sarah Brown. Sky's confidence quickly fades.

At the mission, Sarah and her team, including her foster-father Arvide Abernathy, arrive out of breath and dejected. They have failed to save a single sinner in the time that they have been operating in New York, and if the trend continues their branch will face closure. Sarah is thus understandably excited when Sky enters the mission and proclaims that he wants to be saved. Once they are alone, Sky offers a proposal: he will fill her mission with "one dozen genuine sinners" for her revival meeting if she will accompany him to Havana the next night. He even offers her his "marker", a signed piece of paper reading "I owe you one dozen genuine sinners." His motives for coming to the mission become clear, and she rebuffs him. She tells him that he isn't the kind of man she wants and that she is waiting for the love of her life, whom she pictures to be a straight-shooting religious man she will know on sight ("I'll Know"). Sky reflects that he has not pictured the kind of girl he will marry, and that he plans on being surprised when he falls in love. He kisses her. After a moment, she slaps him, and he departs, promising to return the next day. He leaves his marker behind. She nearly tears it up, but thinks better of it and puts in in a drawer.

Nathan, certain that Sky will lose the bet, arranges to use the garage and then goes to the Hot Box, the seedy nightclub where Miss Adelaide is the headliner and watches her farm-themed closing number ("A Bushel And A Peck"). After the number, Adelaide confesses to Nathan that she has been lying to her mother for the past 13 years and has told her that she is married with a staggering five children. She asks him, for the umpteenth time, to go down to city hall and get a license. When a loud-mouthed chorus girl lets slip that Nathan is running the craps game again, he makes a quick escape from Adelaide's wrath. She consults a medical book she has been reading, which tells her that the chronic cold she suffers is a psychosomatic reaction to her frustration with Nathan's failure to commit to her ("Adelaide's Lament").

The next day, Nicely and Benny observe that Sky is still following Sarah around, but getting nowhere, and that Nathan is running rings around himself to keep the crap game secret from Miss Adelaide and get back in her good graces. They comment on the power of a woman to make a man do anything she wants ("Guys and Dolls").

The band returns to their mission to discover the formidable General Carthwright, the leader of their organization, has dropped by unexpectedly. The General sadly explains that due to the low turnout in Sarah's branch of the mission, she has been forced to close the branch unless there is some kind of turnout at the coming revival meeting. Sarah is pleading her case when Sky drops in, claiming to be a success case. Sarah opens a drawer, discovers Sky's marker, and haltingly promises to deliver "one dozen genuine sinners."

A group of gamblers gathers at a newsstand, waiting to hear from Nathan the location of the game. Nathan, having sent Nicely to get the money from Sky, stalls for time, but the gamblers are growing anxious. Especially impatient is the high-roller Harry the Horse has brought from Chicago: Big Jule, a hulking thug armed with a snub-nosed revolver and a short temper. Things only get worse when Lt. Brannigan arrives, suspicious of the large gathering of known lowlifes. Inspired by Adelaide, who is serendipitously passing by, Benny announces that the gathering is Nathan's "surprise bachelor party" and that he and Adelaide are finally getting married. Brannigan, satisfied, suggests that the couple elope, a suggestion the overjoyed Adelaide takes gladly. Nathan is perplexed but resigned to matrimony and Adelaide goes home to pack, promising to meet him after her show at the Hot Box the next afternoon. The danger past, the gamblers press Nathan for the location of the game. Nicely arrives, out of breath and empty handed, just as the Save-A-Soul Mission band passes a member short: Sarah is not there. Nathan faints into Nicely's arms.

In Havana, Sarah and Sky tour religious monuments and several nightclubs. Sarah discovers a delicious "Cuban Milkshake" called Dulce de Leche, the secret ingredient of which is Bacardi rum, and becomes increasingly tipsy, even starting a brawl when a dancer makes eyes at Sky. Sitting by a fountain, Sarah lets her hair down and proclaims that she is truly enjoying herself for the first time in her life ("If I Were A Bell"). She kisses him, and Sky is surprised to find himself returning it, but can't bring himself to take advantage of Sarah while she's under the influence. He drags her back to the airport.

They return to New York, and Sarah, now sober, apologizes for her behavior. It is three or four o'clock in the morning, Sky's favorite time of the day, and he admits to Sarah that she is the only woman he has ever wanted to share it with ("My Time of Day"). He asks her to call him by his real name: Obadiah. Alone together on a quiet street outside the mission, Sarah and Sky each nervously confess their love ("I've Never Been in Love Before") and kiss. Unfortunately, their romantic moment is ruined when a siren rings out and a stream of gamblers run out of the mission, where Nathan, unable to secure the garage, has been holding the crap game. Sarah turns on Sky, believing he had only taken her to Havana to get her out of the way. He denies it but she refuses to believe him. He asks her if he can see her again and she replies that the Mission's doors are open to anyone.

"What the hell kind of Doll are you?" he exclaims in frustration.

"I'm a Mission Doll," she replies, and closes the door, leaving him standing outside in the cold.

Act II

That afternoon, Adelaide performs another song at the Hot Box ("Take Back Your Mink"), but Nathan isn't there. Sky is looking for him, and runs into Nicely, who is there bearing a message for Adelaide: Nathan cannot elope because his aunt has come down with a rare tropical disease. He admits the truth to Sky: Nathan cannot elope because the game is still going on, nearly 24 hours after it began. Big Jule, being a big loser, has ensured that the game will continue until he comes out on top. Sky demands to be taken to the game, as he has some unfinished business to take care of before he leaves town. Adelaide arrives, and Nicely bumbles his message out and leaves. Adelaide is confused, but soon realizes that Nathan has stood her up again. Sky attempts to console her, telling her that people like Nathan and himself are not made for matrimony. He departs, leaving Adelaide to run back to her book for comfort ("Adelaide's Second Lament")

Sarah and Arvide Abernathy are canvassing again. Sarah confesses that she loves Sky but resolves never to see him again, still blaming him for the previous night. Instead of scolding Sarah or condemning Sky, Abernathy expresses his faith in Sky's inherent goodness and urges Sarah to follow her heart ("More I Cannot Wish You"). Sky and Nicely enter, and Sky tells Sarah he intends on making good on his marker. She coldly tells him to consider it paid and leaves, but Arvide subtly encourages him. Sky asks Nicely where the game is being held, and Nicely points to a sewer grate.

The crap game is now being held in a sewer ("Crapshooter's Ballet). The gamblers are hot, tired and running low on cash, but Big Jule and his revolver are insisting that the game continue until he can win back his heavy losses. To facilitate this, he insists on playing Nathan (who never actually gambles, rather taking his percentage of the top) with his "lucky dice": blank dice that have had the spots removed, allowing Big Jule to call them anyway he wants. Nathan objects, but is forced to bid higher and higher until Big Jule cleans him out. Sky and Nicely enter, and Sky quickly puts an end to the cheating by knocking Big Jule out and relieving him of his gun. He asks the gamblers to attend the prayer meeting, but is refused. Dejected, Sky starts to leave, but is stopped by Nathan, apologizing for not having the money to pay off his bet with Sky. Sky, however, gives Nathan $1,000, stating that he lost the bet, and Nathan won. Nathan uses this money to challenge Big Jule to an honest game, but is told by Harry the Horse that "which your dice, Big Jule cannot make a pass to save his soul." Inspired by this comment, Sky takes the biggest gamble of his life: staking everything on a single roll of the dice, he bets every man at the game a thousand dollars against their souls. If he loses, everyone gets a thousand dollars, but if he wins, they must all attend a prayer meeting at Sarah's mission ("Luck, Be a Lady"). He tosses the dice.

Later, the gamblers head towards the mission, grumbling about attending the prayer meeting. On his way there, Nathan runs into Adelaide. He apologizes and she melts, asking him to elope right now. Nathan, remembering his promise, makes the unbelievable excuse that he has to attend a prayer meeting. Tired of his never-ending lies and excuses, Adelaide blows up and storms off ("Sue Me").

At the mission, no sinners have come to be saved, and Sarah is just giving up and handing in her resignation when all of the gamblers shuffle in. Sky enters, makes sure everything is in order, and then hands the meeting over to Nathan. Nathan forces Benny, Big Jule, and Harry the Horse to give testimony, and is selecting his next victim when Brannigan bursts in. Quickly, Nathan forces Nicely to get up and speak. Nicely comes up with a dream which encouraged him to repent, and quickly gets the crowd on their feet ("Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). Brannigan cuts through the religious fervor, by threatening to arrest everyone for gambling in the Mission last night, but Sarah (whose eyewitness testimony is crucial to Brannigan's case against the gamblers) clears them, saying she has never seen them before in her life. Brannigan leaves, and Nathan confesses that they did indeed hold the game in the mission, and also confesses the details of the bet he made with Sky. He adds that he won the bet, to Sarah's shock, and she realizes how much Sky actually cares for her. She slips out as the meeting continues.

Sarah and Adelaide serendipitously run into each other, and Adelaide is shocked and delighted to discover that Nathan wasn't lying. They commiserate their woes, and then resolve to accept their men as they are. Besides, they can always change him later ("Marry the Man Today").

Several weeks later, many changes have happened in Times Square. Nathan has opened a news stand and is finally marrying Adelaide now that he has gone (almost) straight. He has, however, forgotten to get a location to hold the wedding. The problem is unexpectedly solved when the mission band marches by, with none other than Sky Masterson beating the big bass drum. Arvide has just married Sky and Sarah, and is more than happy to provide the same service to Nathan and Adelaide. All ends happily, even if Nathan appears to have caught Adelaide's cold at the thought of matrimony ("Guys and Dolls (Finale/Reprise)").