HEBRON — Hebron Academy has announced that the Broadway smash “Guys and Dolls” will debut on Androscoggin Theater stage in February 2014. Now running more than 11 years strong, Hebron Academy’s All-School Musical is a perennial winter highlight for the entire school community and surrounding area.

The show, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22, in Androscoggin Theater, is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 7 p.m.

This Broadway classic which debuted in the 1950s recounts the trials and tribulations of New York City gangsters, wise guys and sassy broads looking to indulge their gambling habits, and avoid or succumb to true love, all “without getting caught.”

The musical was produced by Frank Loesser; it is also a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrow and was inspired by Damon Runyon’s short stories, written in the 1920s and 1930s.

“Guys and Dolls” gained further fame thanks to its 1955 silver-screen rendition starring Hollywood heavyweights Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.

The show’s tunes such as “A Bushel and a Peck,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” and “Luck Be a Lady,” will forever hold court in the world of Broadway nostalgia.

Director Julie Middleton, responsible for rejuvenating Hebron Academy’s musical theater presence more than a decade ago, is at the helm of this year’s production. Each year since joining the school she faces the excitement – and challenge – of handpicking the script.

“The common denominators we always look for in a show are large cast and great music. When you get at the various elements that the students are seeking: gangs of good-looking guys and gorgeous ladies, interesting characters with accents and period costumes, and the all-important humor, it’s all there in ‘Guys and Dolls’,” Middleton said.

The Lepage Center for the Arts at Hebron Academy is on Rt. 119.

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