"Guys and Dolls" opens on campus

Friday, April 27, 2007

Sixty-six people and three months of collaboration will finally come together tonight for the University Theatre’s opening of the musical “Guys and Dolls.”

A loud sound of a gun blank opens the play.

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The stage of the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall is set with flashing lights and a screen of old black-and-white photos.

“We like to start out with a bang,” director John Gronbeck-Tedesco said.

The play is set during the Depression in New York City and tells the story of a desperate gambler.

The stage of the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall is set with flashing lights and a screen of old black-and-white photos.

Tyler Stock, Marysville senior, is the assistant set designer for the play. He said he attended every night of rehearsals to critique and make corrections to the set.

“I was actually working on small corrections until this afternoon,” Stock said Thursday.

Gronbeck-Tedesco said he had directed more than 30 plays at the University and more than 45 in his career. He said his job was the easy part of a production.

“See, I just get to sit here and watch,” Gronbeck-Tedesco said.

Commenting on things like timing of the music, the beat the actors walked to and the way actors looked at each other, Gronbeck-Tedesco did anything but just sit and watch. Details like these are what he said made a play successful.

He said a smooth week of dress rehearsals made for an optimistic view on the opening of the play.

“Everyone has worked hard and everyone believes their hard work will pay off,” Gronbeck-Tedesco said.

The May 5 performance will be a benefit in memory of Thomas Bondank, father of Candice Bondank, an actress in the production.

Thomas Bondank died of AIDS in December in Lee’s Summit, Mo. All proceeds from the benefit will go to the Douglas County AIDS Project.

Reserved-seat tickets for “Guys and Dolls” are on sale in the KU ticket offices. Tickets are $18 for the public, $10 for students and $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff.

Kansan staff writer Bethany Bunch can be contacted at bbunch@kansan.com.

— Edited by Kelly Lanigan

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