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Guys and Dolls debuted in the '50s. Here's how a Windsor production is looking to bring it up to date

Guys and Dolls is a classic of musical theatre. But Windsor's Arts Collective Theatre (ACT) wants to bring a new flavour to this much-staged show by acknowledging modernity and diversity.

Windsor ACT's latest production wants to bring diversity to an old musical

CBC News ·
Grand double doors leading up to a theatre. A sign over the doors says "Capitol."
The Capitol Theatre on University Ave. W. is where ACT's production of Guys and Dolls is taking place this fall. (Casey Plett)

Windsor Arts Collective Theatre (ACT) director Chris Rabideau loves classic musicals. But he wants to give them a new flavour for their latest production, Guys and Dolls. 

"It's a little special because the show was made in 1950, but the values have changed, diversity and the energy around theatre has changed," Rabideau told CBC's Windsor Morning. 

"We live beside Motown and, we thought, wouldn't it be great if we could really recruit [and] continue with that Motown flavour and bring it into the show like a revival," he added.

Motown is a nickname for Detroit that was derived from the record label of the same name. In the 1960s, Motown became a major Black-owned label that incorporated soul music into pop hits. 

A man with a beard in a black cap.
Chris Rabideau is the director of the Arts Collective Theatre's production of Memphis. (Tahmina Aziz/CBC)

"We're like the fourth most diverse city in Canada — [we] can really bring that energy into this show," Rabideau said. 

Adaptation

Perhaps the best-known version of Guys and Dolls is the 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando. 

A woman with a floral top smiles for a camera.
Moya McAlister is the vice-president and marketing manager for ACT. She is also a director. (Tahmina Aziz/CBC)

Another director from ACT, Moya McAlister, argues that shows staged by local companies, and have been traditionally cast with white actors, need to better reflect their communities. 

"We have great talent in this city from so many different backgrounds and ethnicities, and we have more and more people coming into the city all the time, so we want to find those people," McAlister said. "Every one of our shows have been diverse — that's why I joined ACT — but we just want that to continue to grow." 

Staging

The two directors say their show is influenced by the 1976 revival, which made use of the Motown sound in its music numbers. 

"We live right besides Detroit, it's in our blood," Rabideau acknowledged. "We want to take the energy of the 1976 version and ask 'what does that look like today in Windsor?'

"We have so many different types of people coming to our shows and that's why we keep pushing this."

ACT's version of Guys and Dolls will run from Oct. 13 to 23. 

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