by Peter Jorgensen

A Tribute to Damon Runyon

It should come as no large surprise to those citizens who frequent the theatre that Guys and Dolls is said to be one of the greatest musical comedies ever written inasmuch as it has a dazzling array of songs by composer/lyricist, Frank Loesser and a most hilarious and finely crafted book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. However, it must also be said that the success of Guys and Dolls is due in no small part to the colourful characters that Damon Runyon writes of back in his day.

Prior to the time when Mark asked me to direct this fine show, I had not the delight of reading Mr. Runyon's fables such as "Blood Pressure," and "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," (the two works on which Guys and Dolls is based) and I find that putting down such stories proves a very difficult task indeed.

With this production we aim to honour the denizens that inhabit Runyon's New York while adding a surprise or two of our own. Just a for instance: we choose to place our Guys and Dolls in the 1920s (the era of Runyon's writings) rather than the 1950s (the era of Loesser's reign).

I believe this production will be a great pleasure to witness inasmuch as we have a first rate cast, a design team of no small talents and an enviable production team, namely the staff of the Chemainus Theatre Festival - and I will lay you twelve to seven that you will not find a more dedicated group in all of Canada.

Let our ascent to Runyonland begin.