Culture | Back Story

A bold “Guys & Dolls” holds lessons for the future of theatre

As Sky Masterson would say: it isn’t wrong to gamble, only to lose

Image: Manuel Harlan

Like shooting craps, theatre is risky business. Actors can miss cues or forget lines, dancers and jokes may fall flat. Punters risk forking out royally for tickets only to hate the play. Producers are subject to the vagaries of the economy and (if they rely on it) statutory funding, not to mention the lightning strike of a pandemic. If the show bombs, they risk losing their shirts.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Luck be a lady”

From the March 25th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Culture

An illustration of a stack of books that make up the American flag.

Want to spend time with a different American president?

Five presidential biographies to distract you from the news

Eames House, Chautauqua Drive, Pacific Palisades, California

Los Angeles has lost some of its trailblazing architecture

How will it rebuild?


A worker takes down a sign saying "shareholders", immediately after the UBS General Assembly which followed the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse

What firms are for

The framework for thinking about business and capitalism is hopelessly outdated, argues a new book


Greg Gutfeld, America’s most popular late-night host, rules the airwaves

The left gave him his perch

Why matcha, made from green tea, is the drink of the moment

Is it really a healthy alternative to coffee? Not the way Gen Z orders it