By Khalida Sarwari
More than 60 years after Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando brought Damon Runyon’s “Guys and Dolls” to the silver screen, Saratoga High School is taking a crack at the popular Broadway musical with a talented cast of its own experienced and novice performers. The show runs April 22-30 at the McAfee Center.
“Guys” is the story of Nathan Detroit, who is infamous among the gangsters on the East Coast for hosting an illegal dice game and getting away with it by continuously changing the meeting location. Set in New York City in the early 1950s, the story follows Detroit who, in his attempt to evade authorities, makes a $1,000 bet with his friend Sky Masterson (portrayed by junior J.T. Hulme) in order to use that money to pay for a garage, the last place left where he can host his game without getting caught.
He challenges Masterson to get a girl to go on a date with him in Havana, Cuba, and Masterson, being popular with women, accepts. Detroit then says it must be a specific girl, one named Sarah Brown (played by senior Nina Nelson) who oversees a newly opened mission in the neighborhood. The rest of the story follows the subplot of Masterson pursuing Brown, who has her own incentive for going out with him, as well as Detroit’s relationship with Miss Adelaide, his fiance of 14 years.
The show is mostly about relationships, said Saratoga High drama teacher Sarah Thermond.
“Romantic relationships are pretty central,” Thermond said. “You have a brand-new couple, but you also have a couple that’s been together for over a decade. The show is all about the crazy, ridiculous things people do for someone they love.”
Playing in the lead roles are seniors Austin Villanueva, 18, and Neeki Tahmassebi, 17. The students, both of whom live in Los Gatos, have played love interests in past shows, said Neeki, and have developed a comfortable dynamic between the two of them, said Neeki.
“This role is just very, very fun to play,” said Villanueva. “It’s a very comedic role.”
Neeki described her character, who’s a dancer, as either performing or solving a conflict with Nathan or within herself throughout the show.
“My favorite thing is to play characters that have some kind of inner complex, but can perform and make the audience laugh a little bit,” she said. “She’s comedic, but she also has a deep incentive and conflict within herself, so I think that’s very interesting to play.”
This is the first time the Saratoga High School drama department is putting on the musical since the McAfee Center opened, according to Thermond. The last time the department staged it was in 2003.
“It’s very high energy,” she said. “It has a lot of dancing, which we hadn’t done in a while. One scene involves stunts, so there’s some jumping we have to practice.”
Performances are April 22-24 and 29-30 at the McAfee Center, 20300 Herriman Ave., Saratoga. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of the Sunday (April 24) matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors and $15 for the general public and can be purchased at the school office, on the school website at saratogahigh.org or at the door.
Link: Saratoga High brings ‘Guys and Dolls’ to McAfee Center stage
