Two weeks ago, the house lights in the auditorium went down and the stage lit up in a dazzling display of bright, rotating lights. The pit orchestra started to play the opening score and music filled the room as RM’s fall musical, Guys and Dolls, began with the colorful ensemble “I’ve Got the Horse Right Here.”

Since then, the Black Maskers Club has completed all four productions of Guys and Dolls, which took place on November 11, 12, 18, and 19. The musical told the story of Nathan Detroit’s $1,000 bet with notorious gambler Sky Masterson. Nathan bet that Sky would not be able to take Sarah Brown to dinner in Havana. Although this was difficult, Masterson convinced Sarah to go on a date with him in exchange for bringing people to her mission meeting. Throughout the musical, Detroit’s fiancee, Adelaide, became fed up with his antics.

The elaborate scheme of complications led to a series of comedic happenings that left the audience applauding and laughing in their seats. A week later, the cast and crew have had some time to look back on the many hours they spent leading up to their big performance.

“It was a lot of training, hairspray, hair gel, and hair curling, but it was a lot of fun,” said senior Laura De Carvalho, who was on makeup crew. “Rehearsals started pretty early in the school year. It was a lot of work, but I think it went really well.”

The members of the the Black Maskers Drama Club put in a lot of time and effort to put on a spectacular show, and it did not come without difficulties. “Sometimes it was pretty hard being an actor because you had to memorize lines, and blocking, and cues, and things like that,” sophomore Nick Leiva, who played Harry the Horse, commented. “We had a dance choreographer come in sometimes and she’d teach us choreography for the songs and sometimes it was really hard. There were a lot of rehearsals which steadily got more difficult,” he explained.

“It was a major time commitment. We had to stay at school until ten on some school nights and despite the friendly atmosphere, we had to buckle down and get to work because we were putting on a show, “ said sophomore Camron Franklin, who played Liver Lips Louie. “Overall, we had to grow from a separate crew into one unified organism to get it all done.”

Richard Montgomery’s production of Guys and Dolls can be described in one familiar phrase: “the show must go on.” Over the course of the past two weeks, many of the lead actors and actresses in Guys and Dolls became sick. Many acted despite their unfortunate circumstances, keeping in spirit with one of theater’s most famous mottos. “You couldn’t even tell who was sick and who was not. It was incredible,” theater teacher Sara Liles said.

The hard work paid off, as the shows went well and the audience really enjoyed the musical. “I think the play went spectacularly, especially the opening show. The orchestra was phenomenal and everything was coordinated perfectly. It was another amazing performance from the RMHS drama!” junior Liam Shearer said. “Everyone I talked to said it was amazing, so I think that’s a success,” senior Natalie Neale-Lorello added.

Although the actors played their parts well, they found some hardships along the way. “The dancing was hard, but the amount of lines was the hardest,” said senior Joey Moore, who played Nathan Detroit. “In retrospect, I would learn the lines earlier,” Moore said.

Senior Noah Montemarano, who played Sky Masterson, said the hardest part was playing such a sexist character. Sexist themes were apparent throughout the musical, which was originally a 1950 Broadway show. “Consider the time period. It doesn’t dismiss it, but it’s an artistic technique that reflects on the time period. It’s intentional sexism,” Montemarano said. Moore agreed and added, “I think it was written in the 50’s and set somewhere in the 20’s and that’s how society was at the time.”

The Guys and Dolls production is over, but Montemarano and Moore look past the ending. “There would be conflict, but I think they would be happy. The boys would give up gambling, but still play cards,” Montemarano said about what would happen to the characters after the written ending of the musical. Moore had a different opinion. “Nathan and Adelaide would live on a farm, like she wanted,” he said.

The many months of preparation led to four unforgettable shows that proved the talent and hard work of the cast and crew.