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Frank Loesser (1910-69) belongs to that sparsely populated circle of American songwriters from the pre-rock era who wrote both music and lyrics to their songs; he was a man of prodigious talents and accomplishments. His older brother, Arthur, had a distinguished career as a concert pianist, teacher and author, a fact that once prompted Frank to jokingly refer to himself as "the evil of two Loessers." In fact, he demanded of himself the uncompromising standards that elevate him to a position of preeminence in the arena of the American musical theater.
Loesser never repeated himself or fell victim to formulas; each artistic and box office success only led him to strike out in a new direction. Where's Charley (1948), an old-fashioned farce, was succeeded by Guys & Dolls (1950), which presented a radically different story and set of characters. The Most Happy Fella (1956) was based on Sidney Howard's gripping drama "They Knew What They Wanted." Loesser transformed it into a musical drama of operatic proportions. How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1961) was adapted from Shepherd Mead's best seller of the same loquacious title. It was a spoof of the corporate world that featured a "hero" who was a conniving brat-not the material out of which successful Broadway musicals are usually made. It won a Pulitzer Prize.
Loesser's most famous work and, arguably, his best is Guys & Dolls. The original production ran for almost three years on Broadway. There followed a London production, an all-black cast production, a movie version, innumerable productions in supper clubs and summer stock companies across the country, countless amateur performances on college and high school campuses, and it was very successfully revived on Broadway in 1992. There is no means of verifying this, but Guys & Dolls may be the most performed musical ever.
This article examines Guys & Dolls in the attempt to uncover some of the secrets of its magic.
The Genre
Guys & Dolls: A Musical Fable of Broadway, opened in New York on November 24, 1950, and had a run of 1,200 performances. The music and lyrics were the work of Frank Loesser; the Book was written by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling;' George S. Kaufman was the director. Guys & Dolls...