Hillcrest High School students are set to put their own twist into what's arguably one of the most classic Broadway musicals of our time - Guys and Dolls.
Vocational pathways teacher Ruth Cameron describes the show as "a story of illegal gambling, religion and girls who just want to get married".
"People seem to relate to the classics and it's just one of those shows with your classic characters, like Grease where people expect to see a character played a certain way, but we also like to toss in a few surprises," Ms Cameron said.
One of the most popular productions for secondary schools, Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls premiered on Broadway in 1950, running for 1200 performances, and has had several Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.
"It's set in New York with sort of a Brooklyn-cum-New Jersey style of accent and so the kids have been working on getting those nuances of the accent and we'll just see what people recognise because in the movie it originally starred Frank Sinatra and so people will be looking to see how our Nathan Detroit compares with the classic Nathan Detroit," said Ms Cameron.
With one of the girls convincing her guy to join the Salvation Army and another that gets her guy to go straight, Ms Cameron says it's a love story that pleases her "feminist heart".
"Although it has a theme of girls who just want to get married for security, in actual fact it is quite empowering for the girls because they really do have the boys under their thumb. One of the songs says 'you can bet he's doing it for some doll', so really the girls do rule the roost. Even though it's set in the 50s it is quite revealing as to male/female roles. The boys like to think that they're in charge but it's really clear who's in charge, and boys will change their whole lives for a girl."
Ms Cameron has noticed that the kids get busier each year with schoolwork and increasing outside commitments, but has had no shortage of involvement with this this production. "They are the sort of kids that are so motivated that they get involved with lots of things, they're the sort of kids that give you hope for the future, they just work so hard and want to be involved."
Ms Cameron says the input from the parents involved with the biannual productions has also been huge.
"At Hillcrest we have a group of parents that is behind every show - the Hillcrest High Parents Support Group - and they're not only the guarantors of the show, they also provide support where it's needed. They do the publicity, the administration, the managerial side of it, so they take a huge workload off the staff because the staff are getting busier and busier as well.
"They have put in probably as many hours as I have if not more. There's a core group of five of them who have done all the costuming and that's been a huge job for this production. It's amazing. I've never had this experience at any other school. It's something unique to Hillcrest. It's pretty special."
Hamilton's Hillcrest High Schools performance of Guys and Dolls will be held at at Southwell School Performing Arts Centre, Peachgrove Rd. Shows are Saturday, April 12 (2pm and 7.30pm), April 13 (2pm), April 15 (7.30pm) and Wednesday, April 16 (7.30pm). Tickets are $10 student/child/senior, $20 adult, $55 family (2 adults, 2 children) for all shows except the final night when prices are $12 student/child/senior, $22 adult. There are no family passes available for the final night's performance.