Before The Sopranos, before Goodfellas, and even before The Godfather, the undisputed underworld boss of stage and screen has always been Guys and Dolls!

The Landis Performing Arts Center is located on the Riverside City College campus at 4800 Magnolia Avenue. Performances of Guys and Dolls are June 5, 6, 12, and 13 at 8pm, and June 6, 7, 13, and 14 at 2pm. Tickets are $25, $30, $37, and $43.  A specially priced “Discovery Theatre” performance with $8 tickets for school and senior groups is also available June 5 at 10am.  For more information and to purchase tickets contact the Landis Box Office at 951-222-8100, or purchase online at www.performanceriverside.org.

For the finale to its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Season, Performance Riverside brings Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City to life onstage at Landis Performing Arts Center.   This oddball romantic comedy introduces us to a cast of unforgettable iconoclasts: Sarah Brown, the pure-of-heart mission worker out to reform even the shadiest denizens of Times Square; Sky Masterson, the handsome high-roller who woos her on a bet and ends up falling in love; Adelaide, the nightclub performer whose hypochondria is brought on by the fact she’s been engaged to the same man for 14 years; and Nathan Detroit, desperate as always to find a spot for his infamous floating crap game. This show is a trifecta that pays off with snappy dialogue, high-stepping dance numbers, and musical jackpots like “Luck Be a Lady”, “Sue Me”, and the show-stopping “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.”

Performance Riverside announces one of the true legends of the Broadway stage Guys and Dolls.  The book is by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, and lyrics and music are by Frank Loesser. The production is directed by Douglas Austin, choreographed by John Vaughan, and musically directed by Scott T. Smith.

“Runyon’s tale of Nathan Detroit who bets Sky Masterson that he can’t take the virtuous Sarah Brown to Havana takes the “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” paradigm to the extreme,” says Performance Riverside Producing Artistic Director Rey O’Day.  “It’s a story anyone can relate to, and it’s the comic twists on a classic theme make this show a universal favourite!”

The musical premiered on Broadway in November of 1950, directed by George S. Kaufman. It starred Robert Alda, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley, and Vivian Blaine. The play ran for 1,200 performances, winning five 1951 Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical. It was filmed in 1955 starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.  It continues to live on as one of Broadway’s most memorable hits, and is currently one of the hottest tickets on Broadway in its latest revival starring Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) and Oliver Platt (Frost/Nixon).

Performance Riverside’s cast features Jamie Snyder as Nathan Detroit, Stacy Huntington as Miss Adelaide, Jeremy Bernard as Sky Masterson, Jessica Nash as Sarah Brown, T.J. Dawson as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Jerry Marble as Arvide Abernathy, and an ensemble including Courtney Burfeind, Arturo Cabrera, Jeanette Dawson, Allison Knight, Casey Garritano, Jason Green, Michael Hill, Janet Hodge, Renee Liskey, Heather K. May, Michael Milligan, James Mulligan, Bobby Perino, Ricardo Puentes, and  Robert Ramirez.