Guys and Dolls - Synopsis 

Act I: After the overture, the curtain rises on a bustling street scene alive with Times Square characters – ‘Runyonland’. Benny, Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Rusty enter, reading tips about the horse races – ‘Fugue for Tinhorns’. Sergeant Sarah Brown and the Mission Band enter - ‘Follow the Fold’. Sarah encourages them to quit the evils of gambling and invites all sinners to visit the Save-A-Soul Mission.

Nicely-Nicely and Benny are joined by Harry the Horse. Lieutenant Brannigan enters and then Nathan. (Nathan has been finding it hard to find a place to hold his floating crap game because of pressure from Brannigan). After Brannigan leaves, Nathan mentions he needs $1,000 to secure Joey Biltmore's garage for the game but he’s so broke he doesn't even have money to buy an engagement anniversary present for Adelaide (a performer at the Hot Box Club), his fiancée of 14 years. Nathan, Benny and Nicely sing about possibly losing the chance to get rich from the game – ‘The Oldest Established’.

Angie the Ox, suggests Sky Masterson (a high-rolling gambler willing to bet on virtually anything) as a possible solution to Nathan’s money problem. Adelaide, who seems to have a perpetual cold, enters with three other women from the club and gives Nathan his anniversary present. Sky enters, and Nathan tells Benny and Nicely to take Adelaide to a drugstore for cold medicine. Nicely and Benny return and tell him Adelaide expects Nathan to pick her up after the show. Sky, a confirmed bachelor, suggests Adelaide has trapped Nathan. When Nathan asks why Sky is travelling to Havana alone, Sky says he could get any woman he chooses to go with him. Nathan bets Sky $1,000 that Nathan can pick a woman that Sky can't convince to go. Sky accepts and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown.

Sky enters the Mission and presents himself as a gambler eager for redemption. He asks Sarah out but she rebuffs him, telling him that he isn't the kind of man she would go out with – ‘I'll Know’. Sky tells her he, too, will know when the right woman comes along. Their song ends in a kiss. The mood is broken immediately as Sarah slaps Sky.

Nathan, certain that Sky will lose their bet, arranges to use the garage for the crap game. Meanwhile, Miss Adelaide, finishes her performance at the Hot Box - ‘A Bushel And A Peck’.  She explains to Nathan that she has told her mother that they are married and have five children. Mimi enters and lets it slip that Nathan is running the craps game again and Adelaide reflects on a medical book she's been reading, which tells her that the chronic cold she suffers is a psychosomatic reaction to her frustration with Nathan's failure to commit to her.  After Nathan rushes off, she sings ‘Adelaide's Lament’.

Benny and Nicely hope Sky fails in his attempts to take Sarah to Havana so Nathan will get the cash to hold the crap game. They observe that men the world over have a weakness for falling in love - ‘Guys and Dolls’. Fortunately for Sky, Sarah's mission is in trouble. When he promises to fill her prayer meeting with a dozen sinners, Sarah agrees to the date.

All the craps shooters gather for the game which still has no location. Brannigan appears and under pressure, Benny lies to him, saying that they’re all gathered for Nathan’s Bachelor Party. Hearing this, Adelaide excitedly announces they should get married the following night after her show.

In a Havana nightclub (‘Havana’) Sky charms Sarah (helped by a milkshake with Bacardi), and finds her beginning to fall in love with him – ‘If I Were A Bell’. Sky is surprised to find himself falling in love too. They return to America, and Sarah and Sky express their newfound love – ‘My Time of Day’, ‘I've Never Been in Love Before’. Unfortunately, their romantic moment is ruined when they see gamblers running out of the mission which is where Nathan was holding the craps game. Sarah is convinced Sky's trip to Havana was part of Nathan's plan all along.

Act II:  Adelaideperforms ‘Take Back Your Mink’ at the Hot Box. Nicely tells Sky that Nathan is still at the game because Big Jule, who is losing, won't allow the game to end until he wins back his money. Adelaide’s cold still plagues her and as she realises Nathan is still running the craps game, she is fed-up nearly enough to dump him at last - ‘Adelaide's Second Lament’.

Sarah, angry she is in love with Sky, and convinced he helped set up the Mission crap game, tells Arvide she wants to leave. Arvide sings about his dreams for her future – ‘More I Cannot Wish You’. Determined to prove his love for Sarah, Sky attends the floating crap game (which is now being held in the sewers) – ‘The Crapshooters' Dance’. Sky lies to Nathan, telling him that he failed to take Sarah to Havana. He pays the thousand-dollar bet. He then stakes everything on a single roll of the dice: if he loses, he will pay every man at the game a thousand dollars, but if he wins, they must all attend a prayer meeting at Sarah's mission – ‘Luck, Be a Lady’. He tosses the dice.

Afterwards, Nathan's relationship with Adelaide crashes when he tells her that he cannot elope with her that evening as promised, because he must attend the prayer meeting. Tired of his never-ending lies and excuses, Adelaide walks out on him – ‘Sue Me’. At a few minutes past midnight, all the gamblers enter the Mission to the surprise of Sarah Brown and the delight of General Abernathy. Moments later, Brannigan comes in, and Nicely Nicely is forced to give a testimony in order to prove that the gamblers were sincere in attending the meeting.- ‘Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat’. After the song Nathan confesses to Sarah about his bet with Sky, explaining Sky admitted to losing the bet. Sarah is puzzled by Nathan's statement, since Sky had actually won his bet. She exits the Mission as the General begins to lead the gamblers in a hymn – ‘The Guys Follow the Fold’.

Sarah and Adelaide meet on the street in the early morning and commiserate about Sky and Nathan. They come to the conclusion they should just concentrate on getting married and worry about changing their men afterward – ‘Marry the Man Today’. Adelaide is overjoyed when she learns that Nathan really was at the prayer meeting, and hadn't lied to her after all.

Nathan and Adelaide's long-awaited wedding ceremony is performed by Arvide, who has already done the same for Sky (who has now joined the Mission) and Sarah. When Adelaide details her plans for a little place in the country, Nathan lets out a huge sneeze – ‘The Happy Ending – Guys and Dolls reprise’.

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