By Kelly Graeber

Oxford School District

Oxford Middle School theatre students bring the junior version of one of Broadway’s most hilarious shows, Guys and Dolls, to the stage tonight and tomorrow. The middle school’s theatre program presents Guys and Dolls JR. — described as the perfect musical comedy — with 7:30 p.m. performances set to take place at Kayla Sue Mize Auditorium on the middle school campus, 222 Bramlett Boulevard, Oxford.

Guys and Dolls JR. is based on the legendary, multi-award winning, musical comedy classic about rolling the dice and falling in love under the lights of Broadway. General admission tickets are $5 and are available for purchase in advance at the OMS Store during school hours or at the door the night of the performance.

“The students of Oxford Middle School have been rehearsing the junior version of the show since January,” said OMS theatre teacher Debra Anderson. Anderson added that students are having a great time singing and dancing to classic songs such as “Bushel and a Peck,” “Luck Be A Lady,” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”

Guys and Dolls JR. has been described as the perfect musical comedy depicting the unlikely romance between a pure-at-heart city missionary, MiKaela Moore as Sarah Brown, and a slick Broadway gambler, Micheal Scruggs as Sky Masterson.

The show’s second romantic storyline involves, Jack Green as Nathan Detroit, and Bella Young as Miss Adelaide, who have been engaged for 14 years. In the show, Nathan organizes “the oldest established, permanent floating craps game in New York,” and Adelaide is the main attraction at the Hot Box Nightclub. Guys and Dolls JR. takes the audience from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, but everyone eventually ends up right where they belong.

“The show is set in 1940’s New York and is stylized with some fun vocal accents and costumes of the time period,” said Anderson. “Even though there are romantic story lines, the show is appropriate for the family. Since it is the junior version of the performance, it only runs a little over an hour.”

The large cast features both a variety of ensemble and star roles. The Guys and Dolls JR. cast lineup includes OMS theatre students: Lucas McKeown, Everett Heuer, Matthew Keeler, Miles Caradine, Walker Coon, Eli Solinger, Ella Seddon, Ansley McDaniel, Russell Coon, Emory Barrios, Josie Gladden, Chloe Sharp, Ellen Williams, Tacie Mott, Gracie Burkes, Karen Carothers, Jenna Roland, Ben Hale, Simone Bourgeois, Zoe Jones, Jaylen McIntosh, Allie Boutwell, Julia Hardy, Sally Kate Dabney, and Emma Green, as well as OMS teachers Shara Minton as Gen. Cartwright and Jeff Jones as Lt. Brannigan.

The musical comedy is based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon, book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. Guys and Dolls JR. is presented though special arrangement with all authorized materials supplied by Music Theatre International, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY. Script, music and all other material copyrighted 2012 MTI Broadway Junior and MTI’s Broadway Junior Collection are trademarks of Music Theatre International.