This fall’s musical comedy, “Guys and Dolls”, will illustrate the ups and downs of complicated relationships on stage Nov. 17-19. Auditions are on Sept. 7-8 from 2:45 to 4:45. 

To prepare students for auditions, a workshop will be held at Algonquin on Thursday, Sept. 1 from 2:45 to 4:45.

“Every year we do one or two sessions of a workshop for auditioning,” musical co-director and science teacher Brian Kelly said. “Students who want to audition can come in, they will learn some of the music from the show that they will actually sing at the auditions. They will learn some of the choreography and some of the scenes to prepare them for the actual auditions. It teaches them about what auditions are, proper ways to present yourself, proper ways to interact with your directors, and ultimately, help to relax them so that when it’s time for them to audition, we get the best of them and not the best of their nerves.”

Though the workshop is not mandatory, Kelly, who is co-directing with Paul D’Agostino, Olivia Goliger and Eric Vincent, encourages any student thinking about auditioning to attend. 

“Anybody who wants to audition can come to the workshop,” Kelly said. “They can come to the workshop and then realize they don’t want to audition. We will give information about what the expectations are if you are in the cast in the workshop, as well as at the audition. It’s just a great way to see what it’s all about.” 

Kelly is excited about the plot, characters, drama and comedy in the musical.

“‘Guys and Dolls’ is a show, on its surface, about a bunch of gamblers who live this rough street life,” Kelly said. “It all takes place in the 1950s, so it’s very comical and caricatured. It focuses mainly on four people, Adelaide, Sarah, Nathan and Sky. Sky Masterson is the lead gambler and he falls in love with Sarah Brown who is religious and she works for a mission, and we watch their relationship progress. Nathan is in a relationship with Adelaide. She’s a showgirl, works in a club and sings and dances. They’ve been engaged for many years and he won’t commit to her, and she’s constantly trying to get him to commit to the marriage. We watch their stories unfold and their conflicts. They lie to each other, and they’re trying to change each other. It’s funny and it’s a bunch of conflicts that are laid out.” 

Kelly said students will merge their talents together to perform a musical rich in emotion with a powerful message.

“It’s a classic musical in terms of music style and acting style, but it’s really at its heart a story about accepting everybody and not trying to change people,” Kelly said. “It’s about being the person who chooses for themself and not letting other people control you. It’s about understanding what you want in life before you let someone else tell you what you want, so you don’t let people control you. It’s a classic romantic comedy so you see the odds between two people in love, how they fall in and out of love, and how they create a life together.”