The Arena Stage production of Guys and Dolls, which starred Maurice Hines, brother to Gregory, and played the Washington, D.C., theatre in early 2000, will begin a U.S. tour in late 2001, a spokesperson for Arena told Playbill On-Line. The mounting of the classic musical, which featured a non-traditional cast, will probably retain many of the same actors. Hines would still star, as would Alexandra Foucard, who played Adelaide.

Foucard (who is currently understudying Fantine and Eponine in Les Miz on Broadway) said Jo Sullivan Loesser, Frank Loesser's widow, saw the D.C. staging and expressed her wish that the Arena cast tour with the show and eventually play it in New York. The producers hope to bring Guys and Dolls to Broadway sometime in 2002, she said, though details are fuzzy and no contracts have been signed. The tour would likely begin in upstate New York, with rehearsals starting in July.

Charles Randolph-Wright (Oak and Ivy) directed the Frank Loesser classic on the Fichandler Stage at the Arena.

Hines began his career at the age of five as a dancer alongside his brother and, later, his father. His Broadway credits include appearances in Eubie!, Bring Back Birdie and Sophisticated Ladies. Tony Award nominated for Uptown...It's Hot!, Hines went on to direct Satchmo, Harlem Suite and become the first African-American director for Radio City Music Hall. His next project is a Broadway-bound hip-hop version of Alice in Wonderland called Yo Alice.

Starring with Hines were real-life newlyweds Brian and Diane Sutherland as Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown, respectively, and Wayne W. Pretlow as Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Also in the cast were Lawrence Redmond (Benny Southstreet), Annie Get Your Gun's Carlos Lopez (Harry the Horse), Richard J. Pelzman (Big Jule), Terrence Currier (Arvie Abernathy), Donna Migliaccio (General Cartwright) and Stephen F. Schmidt (Lt. Brannigan). Designing the show were Paul Tazewell (costumes), Thomas Lynch (sets), Michael Gilliam (lighting) and Susan R. White (sound). Ken Roberson (Freak) is the choreographer.

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The most recent production of Guys and Dolls to play Broadway was the 1992 Tony-winning effort directed by Jerry Zaks. That show catapulted Nathan Lane and Faith Prince to their current level of stage stardom. Lane will star in The Producers this season; Prince in Bells Are Ringing.

—By Robert Simonson
and Christine Ehren