By Kendall Melton, Reporter

Conservatory students at Shenandoah University are performing Frank Loesser’s musical “Guys and Dolls” this weekend, Feb.  24-26.

The show will be performed in the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The run time is 1 hour with a 15 minute intermission.

“The actors build the physicality of the scenes themselves,” said Ashley Knaack, junior musical theatre major and assistant director of Guys and Dolls. “The director (Carolyn Coulson) lets the actors go for it and the blocking develops out of natural impulses.”

The show is based on the works of author Damon Runkin. He wrote short stories about fictional characters that lived in New York in the 1940’s. Each character in the show is based on a character from his stories. The dialogue is based on the language he used in his stories, Knaack said.

Rehearsals started with music work, a read through, and then character work, said Avery Sedlackek, a freshman acting major playing Big Jule in Guys and Dolls.

“Guys and Dolls is a big comedy that is crazy and fun but draws back into real life and feels realistic. It is very relatable,” Sedlackek said.

Guys and Dolls is about people growing up and figuring out that what they used to do their whole lives doesn’t really work anymore,” Knaack said. “It teaches you that love, commitment, and being an actual adult is not something to be afraid of,” she said.

Tickets are free for Shenandoah students, $10 for seniors, children, or military, and $20 for anyone in the community.