“Guys and Dolls” was the first show David Roth directed, after taking over as Staples Players director in 2000.
He staged it again, 9 years later. And once more, in 2023.
Players’ second director, Al Pia, also did “Guys & Dolls” in the 1980s. The award-winning troupe has done it at least 6 times in total, making it perhaps the most-produced show in their 68-year history.
Today, retired media teacher Jim Honeycutt offers the 2000 and ’09 “nutshell” versions. He edited both in almost exactly the same way.
Click here or below for the 2000 show.
Click here or below for the 2009 show.
The cast of both shows were very impressive.
Guys And Dolls 2000
Shira Hofmekler (also known as Shira Gregory) (Adelaide) is best known for her role in the original Broadway cast of the Tony-Award-winning play “Frost/Nixon.” She also appeared in independent films like “Breaking.” She wrote the player “Helen Unbecoming,” a 2025 semifinalist in the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
Peter Duchan (Nicely-Nicely) wrote the book of the musical “Dogfight” (based on the 1991 film). He was a 2011-2012 Dramatists Guild Fellow and a 2014 recipient of the Robert Chesley Playwriting Award. Peter co-wrote the screenplay for “Breaking Upwards” (with Staples graduates Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones), and co-wrote the short “Unlocked” with Wein, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, Gijon International Film Festival, and many others.
Justin Miller (Benny Southstreet) is a former Staples director of choral activities. He is a choral conductor, composer and arranger, known for his work in the Barbershop Harmony Society and his academic choral teaching. He led the Westminster Chorus and Masters of Harmony to international championships.
Justin Paul (Rusty Charlie) is a composer, lyricist, and half of the acclaimed songwriting duo Pasek and Paul. They wrote the music for “Dear Evan Hansen,” “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman.” In 2024, Pasek and Paul achieved EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status after winning an Emmy for their song in “Only Murders in the Building.”
Joanna Gang is a voiceover artist based in New York. She is also a non-profit administrator and fundraiser.
Guys And Dolls 2009
Peter Molesworth (Rusty Chalie) is a writer, actor and filmmaker. Acting credits include “Pear,” “How to Catfish Your Ex” and “Fix.”
Max Stampa-Brown (Nathan Detroit) appeared in “The Third Man,” “FREUD” and “The Garret East,” after the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Eva Hendricks (Miss Adelaide) is a lead singer, and Dan Shure (Nicely-Nicely) plays bass, in Charley Bliss, a successful New York band. Their current release is “Back There Now.”
Jake Yarmoff (Sky Masterson) is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter. His song “City of Love” can be heard on YouTube.
Max Samuels (Sky Masterson) is a New York-based stage and screen actor known for his roles in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” He also appeared in “George Kaplan,” “Angry Young Man,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Brothers Karamazov.”
Nora Kennedy is a New York-based stage and screen actor and writer, recognized for her film work (“Prom King” and “Taken”), and her one-woman cabaret shows.
Matthew Van Gessel (Harry the Horse) is an actor, director and writer based in New York. He played Isaac Goodenow in the “The Sudbury Devil,” appeared in the film “Bookworm,” was featured as an actor in the project RedDrop, and was cast as Father Rand in “The Vampires of New Orleans.”
Al Pia did a terrific production of Guys and Dolls in 1973. It was apparently his favorite musical—he didn’t care for many of them—and Guys and Dolls had a masculine valence Al was very drawn to. He loved the Runyonland characters. The 1973 production was also notably star-studded. Kevin Conroy, a Juilliard graduate who would later become the iconic voice of Batman, played Sky, double-cast with Patrick O’Connell, also a Juilliard graduate and father of Billie Eilish. The production also featured David Marshall Grant as Lieutenant Brannigan; he would later appear in the original Broadway productions of Angels in America and Bent. Bradley Jones, who appeared in the Broadway companies of Jesus Christ Superstar and, for what seemed like about 410 years, A Chorus Line, played Nicely-Nicely. Emmy Award–winning Sue Handman played a marvelous Adelaide (along with a fabulous Mitzi McLaughlin as her double cast), and Westport’s own television and film actor Scott Bryce also appeared in the production. Opera singer Stephanie Vlahos also played Mimi. Who can forget Chris Kelley as Nathan? Forgive, I don’t remember who his double cast was. Dan something…. There were many other wonderful performers in it, it was a cast of about 5000. That was over 50 years ago! I remember we loved doing it, we were so very proud, and they made a record album for us!
Thank you- again- for both encore performances!!
Appreciate being able to see both again!!