The Musical as Drama

obstacles in their romance, find their way to reconciliation
and eventual marriage. This is the standard turn in most ro-
mantic comedy, musical or not, and the thrust and parry of di-
alogue is normally the medium in which it occurs. Musicals
often insert a number at this point, in order to celebrate the
turn toward romance, and in the Rodgers and Hammerstein
era the impression of integrated book and number was gained
by articulating the book and number so closely that the turn-
ing point seems to occur in the number. This is usually an il-
lusion, but an interesting one.
Guys and Dolls(1950), the only romantic comedy to stage its
reversal in a sewer, has a big song-and-dance number for the
gamblers just before the turn occurs. Sky Masterson has hit
upon a way to restore his relationship with Miss Sarah Brown.
He will stake $1,000 against each of the other gamblers, and he
will roll them for their souls. If he wins, they must attend the
Salvation Army prayer meeting that night—a gesture that will
balance the offense the same gamblers committed the night
before, when they stole into the mission to hold their crap
game. Miss Sarah Brown has broken off her relationship with
Sky over that contretemps. “What kind of doll are you?” she is
asked at that point: “A Mission doll,” she replies, and leaves
Sky (so she thinks) once and for all. Now in the sewer because
all other locations are unavailable, Sky will become a “Mission
guy” by outgambling the gamblers and bringing them into the
mission for prayer. He will also help to save the mission, which
is threatened by falling attendance.
“Luck Be a Lady Tonight” is the number that leads up to the
decisive throw of the dice. Remove the number and Sky will
still win his bet. The plot will be intact, but the scene will lose
its power, because the dramatic interest is in the elaboration
that the song-and-dance number gives to the gamblers’ concern
for “Lady Luck.” They are entering the lyric order of time,
where they extend their characters by showing themselves as
terrific dancers, and the plot is not advancing at all. Musical
repetition is giving the pulse to the scene (it is an unusually
repetitive melody and harmony) and the plot is suspended. To
be exact, the reversal occurs during the blackout at the end of

44 CHAPTER TWO