'Guys and Dolls' Opens
Friday at Encore Theatre

Tulare - Guys and Dolls” was first performed on stage more than 50 years ago, but the story line and music continue to capture the spirit and enthusiasm of actors and actresses today, including those who will star in Encore Theatre's production of the romantic musical comedy.

Gloriann Boni, who will play the role of Miss Adelaide, a 1930s showgirl who has been engaged to Nathan Detroit for 14 years and raring and ready to get married, is a good example.

“It's one of my top 10 roles I had to play before I died,” Boni said.

Boni, who has performed in “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Singing in the Rain” and other Encore and Stages productions, did the hair and makeup of students who were in Redwood High School's production of the play in January. She also saw California State University, Fullerton's, production in May.
The popular play is based upon Damon Runyon's short story “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” in which Nathan Detroit, an organizer of floating crap games in New York City, bets fellow gambler Sky Masterson that he can't take the next girl he sees to Cuba with him.

That girl turns out to be Miss Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army worker who is on a mission to save souls.

“The role is actually pretty challenging for me,” said Krystin Dulay, a Porterville resident who has had roles in several College of the Sequoias' productions, including “Sweeney Todd,” “Evita,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

“Susan and Dave Burley (the director and her husband) say the role usually plays out pretty bland, but they want to make her come alive a bit more,” Dulay said.
Ryan Bettencourt, a former Encore Kid who has the role of Detroit, will be a familiar face to audiences as he has been involved in five shows over the past year and a half, including “Blackpool and Parrish,” in which he played the butler, and “Beauty and the Beast,” where he took on his favorite role, Lumiere, who is in charge of the beast's castle.

Detroit is the comedic relief in “Guys and Dolls” and he is enjoying the role, Bettencourt said.

“He's kind of a nervous character because he doesn't want to lose his fiancée,” he said. “He's a great character to play – probably one of my favorites.”

Bennett Harrell is Sky Masterson, a high-stakes gambler who is “very suave with a sense of humor,” Harrell said. “He's use to getting any girl he wants and now he has to try very hard to get the girl he loves.”

Harrell, who played Cosmo, in Encore's “Singing in the Rain” a couple years ago, is a Visalia middle school teacher who said he is having a “great time” doing the show.
Burley said the musical is filled with tunes audiences will recognize such as “Luck Be a Lady,” “I've Never Been in Love Before” and “If I Were a Bell.”

Because of the character of Sarah Brown, Burley said she has invited Majors David and Ruth Scott to place a bell ringer in the lobby prior to each performance to raise money for the Tulare Salvation Army Corps.

David Scott said he has seen “Guys and Dolls” (it was also a movie with Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons) and reports the Salvation Army has been in lots of movies, especially those with a Christmas theme.

Scott said the Tulare corps' need for donations is particularly great now because the number of families it serves monthly has grown from 600 to 1,100 over the last seven to eight months because of the economy.

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