The cover of Damon Runyon's original 1931 collection of stories, Guys and Dolls.
Above: Vivian Blaine poses for a publicity photo in Philadelphia, along with "Guys & Dolls" producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin.
Below: Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows.
Above: Guys and Doll's director, George S. Kaufman. His famously frizzy mop of hair was iconic, though he did not like it at all when a Philly lady stuck her hands into it at Lou Tendler's Restaurant one night in 1950. (Lou Tendler's, at Broad and Locust, was sort of Philly equivalent to Lindy's Restaurant, if you know the show.)
Below: One of Jo Mielziner's designs for the Hot Box Club:
Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pulley, Robert Alda and Sam Levene (along with the rest of the cast of gamblers) in the climactic crap game scene in the sewer during Act Two:
Below, a publicity photo of Isabel Bingley and Vivian Blaine published in the Inquirer:
And lastly, a cartoon by James House (not our favorite, frankly) that accompanied R.E.P. Sensenderfer's review in the Evening Bulletin:
Selected Bibliography:
Articles
"Guys and Dolls Bows in Premiere at Shubert," by Henry T. Murdock, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 16, 1950, p. 26.
"Guys and Dolls," Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, NPR, November 25, 2000. https://www.npr.org/2000/11/25/1114545/guys-and-dolls
"Living Theater - New Musical Based on Damon Runyon Has Premiere Performance Here," by R.E.P. Sensenderfer. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, October 18, 1950.
"Opening of Musical at Shubert Postponed," Camden Courier-Post, October 9, 1950, p. 22.
"Plays Out of Town: Guys and Dolls," Variety, October 18, 1950, p. 58.
Books
Burrows, Abe, Honest Abe: Is There Really No Business Like Show Business?. Little, Brown: Boston, 1980, pp. 168-210.
Loesser, Susan, A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life. Donald I. Fine, Inc.: New York, 1993, pp. 99-102.
Mielziner, Jo, Designing for the Theatre: A Memoir and a Portfolio. Atheneum: New York, 1965, pp. 167-169.
Riis, Thomas L., Frank Loesser. Yale University Press: New Haven, 2008, pp. 74-113.
Teichman, Howard, George S. Kaufman: An Intimate Portrait. Atheneum: Boston, 1972, pp. 143-146, 301-302.