Broadway dancer and choreographer Christopher d'Amboise (left) and Terrence Mann, WCU's Phillips Distinguished Professor of Musical Theatre, meet with cast members in a recent rehearsal for the musical comedy "Guys and Dolls."

Stage and screen actor and director Terrence Mann will direct the University Players in a production of the Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls” from Feb. 21-24 in the performance hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.

With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and script by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, “Guys and Dolls” is set in the 1940s New York world of gamblers and do-gooders. The plot turns on a bet Nathan Detroit (portrayed by Anthony Giorando) makes with fellow gambler Sky Masterson (Nathan Mason) and Sky’s ensuing courtship with neighborhood missionary Sarah Brown (Christy Waymouth). Bethany Rowe plays Miss Adelaide, Detroit’s long-suffering fiancee. The WCU orchestra will provide musical accompaniment for the show, whose cast of 40 is entirely students.

Mann is the Carolyn Plemmons Phillips and Ben R. Phillips Distinguished Professor of Musical Theatre at Western. He is founding artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and served as artistic director of the North Carolina Theatre and North Carolina’s outdoor drama “The Lost Colony.” Twice nominated for a Tony Award, Mann’s stage credits include Rum Tum Tugger in the original Broadway cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” Inspector Javert in the original Broadway cast of “Les Miserables” and the Beast in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” He has acted in scores of film and television productions, including “As the World Turns,” for which he earned an Emmy Award nomination. “Guys and Dolls” is his second production at Western.

Choreographing the show is Christopher d’Amboise, whose sister Charlotte (a ballet dancer) is married to Mann. D’Amboise was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and has choreographed more than 50 ballets, including a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that Mann directed and composed.

“It’s a big advantage for our students to work with well-known personalities,” said Bradley Martin, director of the musical theatre program. “Terrence and Christopher have an understanding of Broadway tradition, they can serve as mentors to the students, and they give the students opportunities to make other contacts, essential in the world of theater.”

Treating the students as though they are professionals is the best training, Mann said. “You must arrive prepared, and you must be prepared to change. You must have razor-sharp focus, and it helps to understand the needs and wants of a director,” he said. Western’s students have energy and enthusiasm that allow them to engage in the process of discovering and expressing themselves within the production, Mann said.

“Guys and Dolls” will show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-23, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24. Tickets are on sale now and cost $5 for students, $15 for faculty and for adults 60 and older, and $20 for adults.

For more information, contact the Fine and Performing Arts Center box office at (828) 227-2479 or visit http://wcutheatre.ticketsxchange.com/.

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Last modified: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008