A classic American musical about gambling on dice and on love comes to the stage in Lewisburg this weekend.

The Marshall County Community Theatre presents “Guys and Dolls” at the Dixie Theatre, opening on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Producer Nick Phillips and Director Allison Mulliniks assembled a cast of 28 13 to 18-year-olds to bring the timeless story back to the Dixie stage.

Mulliniks had taken a five year break from directing all-teen casts but returned to do one of her favorite musicals and for this troop of actors.

“We have a really talented group of teens right now,” she said. “They’ve been one of my best groups.”

Based on Damon Runyan’s stories of New York gamblers and their “dolls” in the years before World War II, the musical premiered on Broadway in 1950, winning a Tony Award for Best Musical that year. Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra starred in a 1955 film version.

Despite being almost 70 years old, the story and the songs, many of which are still standards today, have kept the show in production frequently in New York or London and, according the research done by National Public Radio, “Guys and Dolls” was the most frequently performed musical in high schools during the decade of the 2000s.

This is the third time that MCCT has presented the classic.

A young cast did the junior version of the musical almost 20 years ago, and the last time the full production was staged by MCCT was in the mid-80s.

Gamblers Sky Masterson (Justice Bogle) and Nathan Detroit (Bryson Whaley) lead a group of gamblers (Kade Adcox, Leslie Bishop, Chandler Burrow, Colin Harris, Steven Jett, Sam Johnson, Reid Mitchell, and Sam Vines) through New York City looking for a sure bet on a horse or a high stakes dice game despite the best efforts of Lieutenant Brannigan (Darius Robinson) to catch them in the act.

Trickier to escape are the women in their lives.

Adelaide (Bella Tepedino) is a cabaret starlet at the Hot Box Club with the Hot Box Dolls (Skylar Kinslow, Chloe Martinez, Katie Mertens, Annabelle Mulliniks, Brady Phillips, Isabela Robinson, Leavie Solomon, and Teona West) who, after being engaged to Nathan Detroit for 14 years, is ready to finally tie the knot.

Henry Pearson serves as master of ceremonies at the club.

Sarah Brown (Grace Ann Tabscott) is one of the Mission Dolls (Anna Bailey, Caroline Bailey, Iris Lasater, Lillie Newton, Catherine Roberts, and Claira Wakefield) working at a mission and trying to save the gamblers from their life of sin.

Masterson whisks her off to Havana in order to win a bet but discovers he’d rather win her heart.

“They’ve worked hard and they care about making it a great show,” said Mulliniks.

Mulliniks also emphasized the contribution of Naphtali Rothrock, who is serving for the first time as musical director for a MCCT show.

“She’s been incredible,” said Mulliniks.

Also incredible is the veteran behind the scenes crew for MCCT with Angie Bass stage managing, Julie Sullivan choreography, costumes from Christy Robinson and Shannon Santos-Zuniga, set design from Kenneth and Jennifer Demastus, sound by Randy Saddler, and lighting by Joseph Mulliniks.

In addition to the Saturday opening, a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday follows, along with shows at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept. 28, with a closing matinee on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2 p.m.

Tickets for the show are $15 and are available at the box office an hour prior to show times.

Tribune photos by Scott Pearson

Sky Masterson (Justice Bogle, center) rolls the dice as the gamblers in “Guys and Dolls,” opening on Saturday at the Dixie Theatre, look on. Marshall County Community Theatre is presenting five shows of the classic American musical with an all-teen cast.

Adelaide (Bella Tepedino) and Sarah (Grace Ann Tabscott) realize that they can love the gamblers in their life over the course of “Guys and Dolls” at the Dixie Theatre.