Gamble on PTC’s ‘Guys and Dolls’ – it’s a sure thing

If it didn’t sound so foolish in these boring modern times, we’d suggest everyone take on a nickname like the ones in “Guys and Dolls.” Nicely Nicely Johnson. Harry the Horse. Angie the Ox. All you need is a fedora, some suspenders and a pair of dice, and you’re a regular no-good New York gambler.

Somehow, punching the buttons at Hollywood Slots doesn’t have quite the same allure as a back-alley crapshoot. Fun, but not the same. But no matter, since for a few hours each night this weekend you can escape into that world, when the Penobscot Theatre Company offers a live concert version of “Guys and Dolls” at 6 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday at Pickering Square in downtown Bangor.

Previous years have brought concert versions of favorites such as “Carousel” and “Anything Goes,” featuring some of the PTC’s most memorable actors and actresses. This year, “Guys and Dolls” features Arthur Morison as Nathan Detroit, Hans-Stefan Ducharme as Sky Masterson, Ben Layman as Nicely Nicely Johnson, Brianne Beck as Miss Adelaide and Rebecca Bailey as Sarah Brown, all of whom have been seen in recent PTC productions such as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Night of the Iguana.” Nathan Halvorson and Colin Graebert direct.

If you want a reserved front-row seat, the cost for the show is $10, with tickets available at the Bangor Opera House box office. If you just want to enjoy hearing such Broadway classics as “Luck Be a Lady” or “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” then bring a blanket or a folding chair and you can set up anywhere in the square. Let’s hope the questionable weather of this week clears up, or else, like the musical’s long-suffering Miss Adelaide, you could possibly develop a bad, bad cold. Fortunately, the rain location is at the Opera House.

For more, call 942-3333 or visit

www.penobscottheatre.org.