Veteran director leads Springfield Little Theatre's "Guys and Dolls" (2024)

Springfield Little Theatre closes the curtain on its 89th season with a show considered by some to be the perfect musical comedy. Even though “Guys and Dolls” is nearly 74 years old, don’t expect any modern twists on this classic.

“There’s a lot of weight to it,” said Ryan May, the show’s assistant director. “It’s a favorite and it’s something that you have to stay true to the text with, so you have to do your research and, above all else, you just have to have a passion for it.”

Veteran director Chyrel Miller’s passionate cast and crew will stage “Guys and Dolls” May 31-June 16 at the Landers Theatre in downtown Springfield.

This production makes the musicians a focal point

That crew includes scenic designer Corbin Chaffin. The Joplin native and Missouri Southern State University alumnus cut his teeth with Joplin Little Theatre. He’s now Springfield Little Theatre’s assistant technical director, but will soon take over the reins from longtime SLT technical director Chuck Rogers.

“Soon I’ll be doing every show,” Chaffin said. “I’ll be the resident scenic designer and so this is kind of like the kickoff to get started for the rest of my career.

“The shoes are big. Chuck Rogers has been here for 40 years in total and has designed every show back-to-back. It’s scary, but the people here are so welcoming and so loving. The first time I walked in, Chuck said, ‘Welcome home.’ And it really feels like that. It doesn’t feel like a façade. They really want you here and I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else. It really feels like a family and so it’s just exciting.”

Chaffin is already building off Rogers’ legacy, quite literally, with this production of “Guys and Dolls.”

“We recycle so much,” Chaffin said. “(Rogers) did the junior version of this show probably close to 10 years ago and all of our portals on the sides are from that show. It’s a lot of pulling from the old and adding new.”

The new includes pulling the orchestra out of the pit and placing the musicians onstage. Music director Carla Wootton’s crew provides the backbone for popular numbers like “Luck Be A Lady” and “A Bushel and a Peck.”

“We wanted our music and the musicians to be a focal point of the show to give it a different spin,” Chaffin said. “So we planned our orchestra in the back and cut out a big window for them for the whole world to see. Chyrel has talked to Carla and she’s really wanted to put this jazzy spin on it, so we have a lot of brass, a lot of saxophone and it sounds amazing.”

Bringing life to a 70-year-old script

Set in New York City and based on the work of American journalist and short-story writer Damon Runyon, “Guys and Dolls” tells the story of gamblers Sky Masterson (played by Kaleb Patterson) and Nathan Detroit (Chad Ferriell) and the women who love them. For Detroit, that’s Miss Adelaide, a headlining showgirl at the Hot Box Club. She’s played by Brianna Hobbs. Masterson, meanwhile, falls in love with mission worker Sarah Brown. Gabby Catlin plays that role after featuring in High Tide Theatrical’s April production of “Tick, Tick… Boom!”

While the music is more than memorable, May believes the play’s characters have helped make it a classic.

“The characters that were developed for the show are very well thought out, very well put-together,” he said. “It’s a fun show. It’s lighthearted, there are a lot of laugh lines and overall the scenes are fun. I think that’s what’s kept people coming back.”

Those characters are sharply dressed, thanks to the work of the show’s costumers.

“(They) put in a lot of work to bring life to a script that is 70 years old,” May said. “And the set designer has put in a lot of work and it’s just a bright, fun show.”

Debut assistant choreographer brings fresh eyes to ‘Guys and Dolls’

The original Broadway production of “Guys and Dolls” won a Tony Award for its choreography, written by five-time Tony winner Michael Kidd. Miller, a veteran choreographer herself, has taken on an assistant for this show in 21-year-old Andrew Wilson. It’s Wilson’s first time working in that role.

“Whenever (Chyrel) asked me I was super surprised because I don’t have much (experience),” Wilson said. “I’ve been in tons of shows and I would call myself a pretty good mover, not a dancer. Not as good as some of these girls on stage that are doing spins and pirouettes and tour jetés.”

Not that Wilson has no experience at all. He came up through Springfield Little Theatre’s troupe program and has taken classes in disciplines like ballet, tap and jazz. He said he’s learning as much as he can from Miller and May, and trying to contribute ideas when he can.

“Chyrel likes to keep it pretty fresh, so I just kind of followed whatever she wanted in whatever way she wanted to take it,” Wilson said. “I was just right behind her and I was like, ‘Yes, yes, yes. And this, maybe?’ And she was very supportive of my opinions and thoughts when it came to adding little small things, which is nice.

“I’m very grateful. I have more confidence in what and how I see things and interpret things when it comes to movement now.”

Wilson said he’s gravitated toward the “poppy, girly numbers” in the show and is pleased with how the Hot Box numbers — like “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Take Back Your Mink” — have turned out.

“They’re really fun,” he said.

Chyrel Miller is ‘an absolute wealth of knowledge’

“Guys and Dolls” has a cast of more than 40 members, but that’s nothing new for Miller. She also managed a large cast in SLT’s April 2023 production of “Pippin.” Miller has a long history with Springfield Little Theatre. She choreographed her first show, “Barnum,” on the Landers stage in 1984.

When it came time for interviews, she deferred to her scenic designer and assistants, all of whom spoke highly of working her Miller.

“She’s an absolute wealth of knowledge,” May said. He’s worked on several shows with Miller and this is his second production as her assistant director. “She’s so fun. She keeps you on your toes and she challenges you, which is one of the reasons why I’m always so excited to work with her. Every experience, I’m walking away knowing that I’m going to be a better director because I got to work with her and all of the experiences that she’s willing to share with me.”

Chaffin, in his first show with May, said Miller, more than other directors, gives her team “huge, grand ideas” they get to play off of.

“She’s so open to be like, ‘What if we twisted it this way?’ She’s full of big ideas and she’s so open to change that it just flows smoothly and it’s almost seamless.”

The result is a dynamic, crowd-pleasing show.

“The music’s rocking, so wear your dancin’ shoes,” Chaffin said. “We are music-focused and we really want the audience to feel like they’re there and be enamored with it all.”