document_title: Battle of Fort Sumter

question_text: who fired first shot in the civil war

question_tokens: who fired first shot in the civil war

root

text: Battle of Fort Sumter

text: Background

text: Secession

text: On December 20, 1860, shortly after Abraham Lincoln's victory in the presidential election of 1860, South Carolina adopted an ordinance declaring its secession from the United States of America and, by February 1861, six more Southern states had adopted similar ordinances of secession. On February 7, the seven states adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America and established their temporary capital at Montgomery, Alabama. A February peace conference met in Washington, D.C., but failed to resolve the crisis. The remaining eight states declined pleas to join the Confederacy.[5][6]

tag: p

text: The seceding states seized numerous Federal properties within their boundaries, including buildings, arsenals, and fortifications. President James Buchanan protested but took no military action in response. Buchanan was concerned that an overt action could cause the remaining slave states to leave the Union, and while he acknowledged there was no constitutional authority for a state to secede, he could find no constitutional authority for him to act to prevent it.[7][8]

text: The Forts of Charleston

text: Several forts had been constructed in Charleston's harbor, including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, which were not among the sites seized initially. Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island was the oldest—it was the site of fortifications since 1776—and was the headquarters of the U.S. Army garrison. However, it had been designed as a gun platform for defending the harbor, and its defenses against land-based attacks were feeble; during the crisis, the Charleston newspapers commented that sand dunes had piled up against the walls in such a way that the wall could easily be scaled. When the garrison began clearing away the dunes, the papers objected.[9][10][11]

text: Major Robert Anderson of the 1st U.S. Artillery regiment had been appointed to command the Charleston garrison that fall because of rising tensions. A native of Kentucky, he was a protégé of Winfield Scott, the general in chief of the Army, and was thought more capable of handling a crisis than the garrison's previous commander, Col. John L. Gardner, who was nearing retirement. Anderson had served an earlier tour of duty at Fort Moultrie and his father had been a defender of the fort (then called Fort Sullivan) during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the fall, South Carolina authorities considered both secession and the expropriation of federal property in the harbor to be inevitable. As tensions mounted, the environment around the fort increasingly resembled a siege, to the point that the South Carolina authorities placed picket ships to observe the movements of the troops and threatened to attack when forty rifles were transferred to one of the harbor forts from the U.S. arsenal in the city.[1][12][13][11]

text: In contrast to Moultrie, Fort Sumter dominated the entrance to Charleston Harbor and, though unfinished, was designed to be one of the strongest fortresses in the world. In the fall of 1860 work on the fort was nearly completed, but the fortress was thus far garrisoned by a single soldier, who functioned as a lighthouse keeper, and a small party of civilian construction workers. Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter.[14][15]

text: President Buchanan and the Star of the West

text: South Carolina authorities considered Anderson's move to be a breach of faith. Governor Francis W. Pickens believed that President Buchanan had made implicit promises to him to keep Sumter unoccupied and suffered political embarrassment as a result of his trust in those promises. Buchanan, a former U.S. Secretary of State and diplomat, had used carefully crafted ambiguous language to Pickens, promising that he would not "immediately" occupy it.[16] From Major Anderson's standpoint, he was merely moving his existing garrison troops from one of the locations under his command to another. He had received instructions from the War Department on December 11, written by Major General Don Carlos Buell, Assistant Adjutant General of the Army, approved by Secretary of War John B. Floyd:[16][17]

text: ... you are to hold possession of the forts in this harbor, and if attacked you are to defend yourself to the last extremity. The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on or attempt to take possession of any one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar steps whenever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act.[18]

text: Governor Pickens therefore ordered that all remaining Federal positions except Fort Sumter were to be seized. State troops quickly occupied Fort Moultrie (capturing 56 guns), Fort Johnson on James Island, and the battery on Morris Island. On December 27, an assault force of 150 men seized the Union-occupied Castle Pinckney fortification, in the harbor close to downtown Charleston, capturing 24 guns and mortars without bloodshed. On December 30, the Federal arsenal in Charleston was captured, resulting in the acquisition of more than 22,000 weapons by the militia. The Confederates promptly made repairs at Fort Moultrie and dozens of new batteries and defense positions were constructed throughout the Charleston harbor area, including an unusual floating battery, and armed with weapons captured from the arsenal.[N 1]

text: President Buchanan was surprised and dismayed at Anderson's move to Sumter, unaware of the authorization Anderson had received. Nevertheless, he refused Pickens's demand to evacuate Charleston harbor. Since the garrison's supplies were limited, Buchanan authorized a relief expedition of supplies, small arms, and 200 soldiers. The original intent was to send the Navy sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn, but it was discovered that Confederates had sunk some derelict ships to block the shipping channel into Charleston and there was concern that Brooklyn had too deep a draft to negotiate the obstacles. Instead, it seemed prudent to send an unarmed civilian merchant ship, Star of the West, which might be perceived as less provocative to the Confederates. As Star of the West approached the harbor entrance on January 9, 1861, it was fired upon by a battery on Morris Island, which was staffed by cadets from The Citadel, among them William Stewart Simkins, who were the only trained artillerymen in the service of South Carolina at the time. Batteries from Fort Moultrie joined in and Star of the West was forced to withdraw. Major Anderson prepared his guns at Sumter when he heard the Confederate fire, but the secrecy of the operation had kept him unaware that a relief expedition was in progress and he chose not to start a general engagement.[22][23][24][1]

text: In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, Governor Pickens demanded of President Buchanan that he surrender Fort Sumter because, "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina."[25]

text: Preparations for war

text: Conditions at the fort were difficult during the winter of 1860–61. Rations were short and fuel for heat was limited. The garrison scrambled to complete the defenses as best they could. Fort Sumter was designed to mount 135 guns, operated by 650 officers and men, but construction had met with numerous delays for decades and budget cuts had left it only about 90 percent finished in early 1861. Anderson's garrison consisted of just 85 men, primarily made up of two small artillery companies: Company E, 1st U.S. Artillery, commanded by Capt. Abner Doubleday, and Company H, commanded by Capt. Truman Seymour. There were six other officers present: Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford, First Lt. Theodore Talbot of Company H, First Lt. Jefferson C. Davis of the 1st U.S. Artillery, and Second Lt. Norman J. Hall of Company H. Capt. John G. Foster and First Lt. George W. Snyder of the Corps of Engineers were responsible for construction of the Charleston forts, but they reported to their headquarters in Washington, not directly to Anderson. The remaining personnel were 68 noncommissioned officers and privates, eight musicians, and 43 noncombatant workmen.[1]

text: By April the Union troops had positioned 60 guns, but they had insufficient men to operate them all. The fort consisted of three levels of enclosed gun positions, or casemates. The second level of casemates was unoccupied. The majority of the guns were on the first level of casemates, on the upper level (the parapet or barbette positions), and on the center parade field. Unfortunately for the defenders, the original mission of the fort—harbor defense—meant that it was designed so that the guns were primarily aimed at the Atlantic, with little capability of protecting from artillery fire from the surrounding land or from infantry conducting an amphibious assault.[26][27][28]

text: In March, Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard took command of South Carolina forces in Charleston; on March 1, President Jefferson Davis had appointed him the first general officer in the armed forces of the new Confederacy,[29] specifically to take command of the siege. Beauregard made repeated demands that the Union force either surrender or withdraw and took steps to ensure that no supplies from the city were available to the defenders, whose food was running low. He also increased drills amongst the South Carolina militia, training them to operate the guns they manned. Ironically, Major Anderson had been Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point; the two had been especially close, and Beauregard had become Anderson's assistant after graduation. Both sides spent March drilling and improving their fortifications to the best of their abilities.[30]

text: Beauregard, a trained military engineer, built-up overwhelming strength to challenge Fort Sumter. Fort Moultrie had three 8-inch Columbiads, two 8-inch howitzers, five 32-pound smoothbores, and four 24-pounders. Outside of Moultrie were five 10-inch mortars, two 32-pounders, two 24-pounders, and a 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore. The floating battery next to Fort Moultrie had two 42-pounders and two 32-pounders on a raft protected by iron shielding. Fort Johnson on James Island had one 24-pounder and four 10-inch mortars. At Cummings Point on Morris Island, the Confederates had emplaced seven 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, an English Blakely rifled cannon, and three 8-inch Columbiads, the latter in the so-called Iron Battery, protected by a wooden shield faced with iron bars. About 6,000 men were available to man the artillery and to assault the fort, if necessary, including the local militia, young boys and older men.[31]

text: Decisions for war

text: On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president. He was almost immediately confronted with the surprise information that Major Anderson was reporting that only six weeks of rations remained at Fort Sumter. A crisis similar to the one at Fort Sumter had emerged at Pensacola, Florida, where Confederates threatened another U.S. fortification—Fort Pickens. Lincoln and his new cabinet struggled with the decisions of whether to reinforce the forts, and how. They were also concerned about whether to take actions that might start open hostilities and which side would be perceived as the aggressor as a result. Similar discussions and concerns were occurring in the Confederacy.[32][33]

text: After the formation of the Confederate States of America in early February, there was some debate among the secessionists whether the capture of the fort was rightly a matter for South Carolina or for the newly declared national government in Montgomery, Alabama. South Carolina governor Pickens was among the states' rights advocates who thought that all property in Charleston harbor had reverted to South Carolina upon that state's secession as an independent commonwealth. This debate ran alongside another discussion about how aggressively the installations—including Forts Sumter and Pickens—should be obtained. President Davis, like his counterpart in Washington, preferred that his side not be seen as the aggressor. Both sides believed that the first side to use force would lose precious political support in the border states, whose allegiance was undetermined; before Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, five states had voted against secession, including Virginia, and Lincoln openly offered to evacuate Fort Sumter if it would guarantee Virginia's loyalty.[N 2]

text: The South sent delegations to Washington, D.C., and offered to pay for the Federal properties and enter into a peace treaty with the United States. Lincoln rejected any negotiations with the Confederate agents because he did not consider the Confederacy a legitimate nation and making any treaty with it would be tantamount to recognition of it as a sovereign government. However, Secretary of State William H. Seward, who wished to give up Sumter for political reasons—as a gesture of good will—engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed.[35]

text: On April 4, as the supply situation on Sumter became critical, President Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, to be commanded by former naval captain (and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy) Gustavus V. Fox, who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of smaller vessels than the Star of the West. Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only, and if he was opposed by the Confederates, to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men. This time, Maj. Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him. On April 6, Lincoln notified Governor Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, [except] in case of an attack on the fort."[36][37][38][39][1]

text: Lincoln's notification had been made to the governor of South Carolina, not the new Confederate government, which Lincoln did not recognize. Pickens consulted with Beauregard, the local Confederate commander. Soon President Davis ordered Beauregard to repeat the demand for Sumter's surrender, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before the relief expedition arrived. The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis's order on April 9. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack "will lose us every friend at the North. You will only strike a hornet's nest. ... Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal."[40]

text: Beauregard dispatched aides—Col. James Chesnut, Col. James A. Chisholm, and Capt. Stephen D. Lee—to Fort Sumter on April 11 to issue the ultimatum. Anderson refused, although he reportedly commented, "I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days." The aides returned to Charleston and reported this comment to Beauregard. At 1 a.m. on April 12, the aides brought Anderson a message from Beauregard: "If you will state the time which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree in the meantime that you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you." After consulting with his senior officers, Maj. Anderson replied that he would evacuate Sumter by noon, April 15, unless he received new orders from his government or additional supplies. Col. Chesnut considered this reply to be too conditional and wrote a reply, which he handed to Anderson at 3:20 a.m.: "Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said "If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next."[41][42][43][44]

text: Bombardment

text: At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Lt. Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Capt. George S. James,[45][46] fired a single 10-inch mortar round from Fort Johnson. (James had offered the first shot to Roger Pryor, a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war.") The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, the floating battery, and Cummings Point. Under orders from Beauregard, the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours. Edmund Ruffin, another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present for the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round, a 64-pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents (including diarist Mary Chesnut), who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort.[47][N 3]

text: Major Anderson held his fire, awaiting daylight. His troops reported for a call at 6 a.m. and then had breakfast. At 7 a.m., Capt. Abner Doubleday fired a shot at the Ironclad Battery at Cummings Point. He missed. Given the available manpower, Anderson could not take advantage of all of his 60 guns. He deliberately avoided using guns that were situated in the fort where casualties were most likely. The fort's best cannons were mounted on the uppermost of its three tiers—the barbette tier—where his troops were most exposed to incoming fire from overhead. The fort had been designed to withstand a naval assault, and naval warships of the time did not mount guns capable of elevating to shoot over the walls of the fort. However, the land-based cannons manned by the Confederates were capable of high-arcing ballistic trajectories and could therefore fire at parts of the fort that would have been out of naval guns' reach. Fort Sumter's garrison could only safely fire the 21 working guns on the lowest level, which themselves, because of the limited elevation allowed by their embrasures, were largely incapable of delivering fire with trajectories high enough to seriously threaten Fort Moultrie. Moreover, although the Federals had moved as many of their supplies to Fort Sumter as they could manage, the fort was quite low on ammunition, and was nearly out at the end of the 34-hour bombardment. A more immediate problem was the scarcity of cloth gunpowder cartridges or bags; only 700 were available at the beginning of the battle and workmen sewed frantically to create more, in some cases using socks from Anderson's personal wardrobe. Because of the shortages, Anderson reduced his firing to only six guns: two aimed at Cummings Point, two at Fort Moultrie, and two at the Sullivan's Island batteries.[49][50]

text: Ships from Fox's relief expedition began to arrive on April 12. Although Fox himself arrived at 3 a.m. on his steamer Baltic, most of the rest of his fleet was delayed until 6 p.m., and one of the two warships, USS Powhatan, never did arrive. Unbeknownst to Fox, it had been ordered to the relief of Fort Pickens in Florida. As landing craft were sent toward the fort with supplies, the artillery fire deterred them and they pulled back. Fox decided to wait until after dark and for the arrival of his warships. The next day, heavy seas made it difficult to load the small boats with men and supplies and Fox was left with the hope that Anderson and his men could hold out until dark on April 13.[51]

text: Although Sumter was a masonry fort, there were wooden buildings inside for barracks and officer quarters. The Confederates targeted these with Heated shot (cannonballs heated red hot in a furnace), starting fires that could prove more dangerous to the men than explosive artillery shells. At 7 p.m. on April 12, a rain shower extinguished the flames and at the same time the Union gunners stopped firing for the night. They slept fitfully, concerned about a potential infantry assault against the fort. During the darkness, the Confederates reduced their fire to four shots each hour. The following morning, the full bombardment resumed and the Confederates continued firing hot shot against the wooden buildings. By noon most of the wooden buildings in the fort and the main gate were on fire. The flames moved toward the main ammunition magazine, where 300 barrels of gunpowder were stored. The Union soldiers frantically tried to move the barrels to safety, but two-thirds were left when Anderson judged it was too dangerous and ordered the magazine doors closed. He ordered the remaining barrels thrown into the sea, but the tide kept floating them back together into groups, some of which were ignited by incoming artillery rounds. He also ordered his crews to redouble their efforts at firing, but the Confederates did the same, firing the hot shots almost exclusively. Many of the Confederate soldiers admired the courage and determination of the Yankees. When the fort had to pause its firing, the Confederates often cheered and applauded after the firing resumed and they shouted epithets at some of the nearby Union ships for failing to come to the fort's aid.[52][53]

text: Surrender

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Major Anderson's telegram announcing the surrender

tag: table

text: The fort's central flagpole was knocked down at 1 p.m. on April 13, raising doubts among the Confederates about whether the fort was ready to surrender. Col. Louis Wigfall, a former U.S. senator, had been observing the battle and decided that this indicated the fort had had enough punishment. He commandeered a small boat and proceeded from Morris Island, waving a white handkerchief from his sword, dodging incoming rounds from Sullivan's Island. Meeting with Major Anderson, he said, "You have defended your flag nobly, Sir. You have done all that it is possible to do, and General Beauregard wants to stop this fight. On what terms, Major Anderson, will you evacuate this fort?" Anderson was encouraged that Wigfall had said "evacuate," not "surrender." He was low on ammunition, fires were burning out of control, and his men were hungry and exhausted. Satisfied that they had defended their post with honor, enduring over 3,000 Confederate rounds without losing a man, Anderson agreed to a truce at 2:00 p.m.[54][55]

text: Fort Sumter raised Wigfall's white handkerchief on its flagpole as Wigfall departed in his small boat back to Morris Island, where he was hailed as a hero. The handkerchief was spotted in Charleston and a delegation of officers representing Beauregard—Stephen D. Lee, Porcher Miles, a former mayor of Charleston, and Roger Pryor—sailed to Sumter, unaware of Wigfall's visit. Anderson was outraged when these officers disavowed Wigfall's authority, telling him that the former senator had not spoken with Beauregard for two days, and he threatened to resume firing. Meanwhile, General Beauregard himself had finally seen the handkerchief and sent a second set of officers, offering essentially the same terms that Wigfall had presented, so the agreement was reinstated.[54][56][57]

text: The Union garrison formally surrendered the fort to Confederate personnel at 2:30 p.m., April 13. No one from either side was killed during the bombardment. During the 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag—Anderson's one condition for withdrawal—a pile of cartridges blew up from a spark, mortally wounding privates Daniel Hough and Edward Galloway, and seriously wounding the other four members of the gun crew; these were the first military fatalities of the war. The salute was stopped at fifty shots. Hough was buried in the Fort Sumter parade ground within two hours after the explosion. Galloway and Private George Fielding were sent to the hospital in Charleston, where Galloway died a few days later; Fielding was released after six weeks.[58][59] The other wounded men and the remaining Union troops were placed aboard a Confederate steamer, the Isabel, where they spent the night and were transported the next morning to Fox's relief ship Baltic, resting outside the harbor bar.[60]

text: Anderson carried the Fort Sumter Flag with him North, where it became a widely known symbol of the battle, and rallying point for supporters of the Union.[61] This inspired Frederic Edwin Church to paint Our Banner in the Sky, described as a "symbolic landscape embodying the stars and stripes." A chromolithograph was then created and sold to benefit the families of Union soldiers.[62]

text: Aftermath

text: The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the first military action of the American Civil War. Following the surrender, Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call for all states to send troops to recapture the forts and preserve the Union. With the scale of the rebellion apparently small so far, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for 90 days.[63] Some Northern states filled their quotas quickly. There were so many volunteers in Ohio that within 16 days they could have met the full call for 75,000 men by themselves.[64] Other governors from border states were undiplomatic in their responses. For example, Gov. Claiborne Jackson wrote, "Not one man will the state of Missouri furnish to carry on any such unholy crusade", and Gov. Beriah Magoffin wrote, "Kentucky will furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern states."[65] The governors of other states still in the Union were equally unsupportive. The call for 75,000 troops triggered four additional slave states to declare their secession from the Union and join the Confederacy.[66] The ensuing war lasted four years, effectively ending in April 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox Courthouse.[67]

text: Charleston Harbor was completely in Confederate hands for almost the entire four-year duration of the war, leaving a hole in the Union naval blockade. Union forces conducted major operations in 1862 and 1863 to capture Charleston, first overland on James Island (the Battle of Secessionville, June 1862), then by naval assault against Fort Sumter (the First Battle of Charleston Harbor, April 1863), then by seizing the Confederate artillery positions on Morris Island (beginning with the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, July 1863, and followed by a siege until September). After pounding Sumter to rubble with artillery fire, a final amphibious operation attempted to occupy it (the Second Battle of Fort Sumter, September 1863), but was repulsed and no further attempts were made. The Confederates evacuated Fort Sumter and Charleston in February 1865 as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman outflanked the city in the Carolinas Campaign. On April 14, 1865, four years to the day after lowering the Fort Sumter Flag in surrender, Robert Anderson (by then a major general, although ill and in retired status) returned to the ruined fort to raise the flag he had lowered in 1861.[68]

text: Two of the cannons used at Fort Sumter were later presented to Louisiana State University by General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was president of the university before the war began.[69]

text: Tributes

text: The U.S. Post Office Department released the Fort Sumter Centennial issue as the first in the series of five stamps marking the Civil War Centennial on April 12, 1961, at the Charleston post office.[70]

text: The stamp was designed by Charles R. Chickering. It illustrates a seacoast gun from Fort Sumter aimed by an officer in a typical uniform of the time. The background features palmetto leaves akin to bursting shells. The state tree of South Carolina, the palmettos suggest the geopolitical area opening Civil War hostilities.[71]

text: This stamp was produced by an engraving and printed by the rotary process in panes of fifty stamps each. The Postal Department authorized an initial printing of 120 million stamps.[71]

text: Footnotes


document_title: Guys and Dolls

question_text: who owns the rights to guys and dolls

question_tokens: who owns the rights to guys and dolls

text: Guys and Dolls

text: Background[edit]

text: Guys and Dolls was conceived by producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin as an adaptation of Damon Runyon's short stories.[5] These stories, written in the 1920s and 1930s, concerned gangsters, gamblers, and other characters of the New York underworld. Runyon was known for the unique dialect he employed in his stories, mixing highly formal language and slang.[6] Frank Loesser, who had spent most of his career as a lyricist for movie musicals, was hired as composer and lyricist. George S. Kaufman was hired as director. When the first version of the show's book, or dialogue, written by Jo Swerling was deemed unusable, Feuer and Martin asked radio comedy writer Abe Burrows to rewrite it.[5][7]

text: Loesser had already written much of the score to correspond with the first version of the book.[6] Burrows later recalled:

text: Frank Loesser's fourteen songs were all great, and the [new book] had to be written so that the story would lead into each of them. Later on, the critics spoke of the show as 'integrated'. The word integration usually means that the composer has written songs that follow the story line gracefully. Well, we accomplished that but we did it in reverse.[8]

text: The character of Miss Adelaide was created specifically to fit Vivian Blaine into the musical, after Loesser decided she was ill-suited to play the conservative Sarah.[9] When Loesser suggested reprising some songs in the second act, Kaufman warned: "If you reprise the songs, we’ll reprise the jokes."[10]

text: Synopsis[edit]

text: Act I[edit]

text: A pantomime of never-ceasing activities depicts the hustle and bustle of New York City ("Runyonland"). Three small-time gamblers, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Benny Southstreet, and Rusty Charlie, argue over which horse will win a big race ("Fugue for Tinhorns"). The band members of the Save-a-Soul Mission, led by the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown, call for sinners to "Follow the Fold" and repent. Nicely and Benny's employer, Nathan Detroit, runs an illegal floating crap game. Due to local policeman Lt. Brannigan's strong-armed presence, he has found only one likely spot to hold the game: the "Biltmore garage." Its owner, Joey Biltmore, requires a $1,000 security deposit, and Nathan is broke ("The Oldest Established"). Nathan hopes to win a $1,000 bet against Sky Masterson, a gambler willing to bet on virtually anything. Nathan proposes a bet he believes he cannot lose: Sky must take a doll (a woman) of Nathan's choice to dinner in Havana, Cuba. Sky agrees, and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown. At the mission, Sky claims he wants to be saved, impressing Sarah with his knowledge of the Bible. He offers Sarah a deal: He will bring the mission "one dozen genuine sinners" if she will accompany him to Havana the next night. Sarah rebuffs him, telling him that she plans to fall in love with an upright, moral man. Sky replies that he plans on being surprised when he falls in love ("I'll Know"). Sky kisses Sarah, and she slaps him. Nathan goes to watch his fiancée of 14 years, Adelaide, perform her nightclub act ("A Bushel and a Peck"). After her show, she asks him, as she has many times before, to go down to city hall and get a marriage license. She is distraught to find out that Nathan is still running the crap game. She consults a medical book, which tells her that her chronic cold is a psychosomatic reaction to her frustration with Nathan's failure to marry her ("Adelaide's Lament").

text: The next day, Nicely and Benny watch as Sky pursues Sarah, and Nathan tries to win back Adelaide's favor. They declare that guys will do anything for the dolls they love ("Guys and Dolls"). General Cartwright, the leader of Save-a-Soul, visits the mission and explains that she will be forced to close the branch unless they succeed in bringing some sinners to the upcoming revival meeting. Sarah, desperate to save the mission, promises the General "one dozen genuine sinners", implicitly accepting Sky's deal. The gamblers, including a notorious gangster from Chicago named Big Jule, are waiting for Nathan to secure the spot for the game, and Lt. Brannigan becomes suspicious. To convince him of their innocence, they tell Brannigan their gathering is Nathan's "surprise bachelor party". This satisfies Brannigan, and Nathan resigns himself to eloping with Adelaide. Adelaide goes home to pack, promising to meet him after her show the next afternoon. The Save-A-Soul Mission band passes by, and Nathan sees that Sarah is not in it; he realizes that he lost the bet and faints.

text: In a Havana nightclub, Sky buys a drink for himself and a "Cuban milkshake" for Sarah. She doesn't realize that the drink contains Bacardi rum, and innocently drinks multiple glasses, becoming progressively tipsier. Outside the club, Sarah kisses Sky and proclaims that she is truly enjoying herself for the first time in her life ("If I Were a Bell"). She wants to stay in Havana with Sky. Sky is surprised to find, though, that he truly cares about Sarah's welfare, and he insists that they go back to the airport and return to New York. Back in New York, it is 4:00 a.m., and as Sky and Sarah (now sober) stand in the street outside the mission, Sky tells her that this is his favorite time of day, and that she is the only woman he's ever wanted to share it with ("My Time of Day"). They both spontaneously admit that they're in love ("I've Never Been in Love Before"). A siren sounds and gamblers run out of the mission, where Nathan has been holding the crap game. Sarah infers that Sky took her to Havana and pretended to be in love with her just so Nathan could use the mission for the game, rejecting his protests of innocence.

text: Act II[edit]

text: The next evening, Adelaide performs her act at the Hot Box ("Take Back Your Mink"). Nathan doesn't show up for the elopement because he's still running the crap game. She soon realizes that Nathan has stood her up again and turns to her book for comfort ("Adelaide's Second Lament").

text: Sarah admits to Arvide, her grandfather and fellow mission worker, that she loves Sky but will never see him again because she believes he is responsible for the previous night's crap game. Arvide expresses his faith in Sky's inherent goodness and urges Sarah to follow her heart ("More I Cannot Wish You"). Sky tells Sarah he intends to deliver the dozen genuine sinners for the revival. She doesn't believe him and walks off, but Arvide subtly encourages him.

text: Nicely shows Sky where the game is being held: the sewer ("Crapshooters Dance"). Big Jule has lost a large amount of cash and insists on playing on credit. To change his luck he uses his own dice, which are blank, and proceeds to cheat Nathan out of all of his money. Sky then arrives with Nicely. Big Jule isn't impressed, but Sky responds by punching him out. He then gives Nathan $1,000, saying that Nathan won the bet and implying that Sarah refused to go to Havana with him. Sky, determined to get the dozen sinners he promised Sarah, bets everyone at the game a thousand dollars against their souls. If he loses, every man gets a thousand dollars; if he wins, they must all attend the revival at the mission ("Luck Be a Lady"). He tosses the dice. The gamblers head towards the mission, and it is clear that Sky has won his bet. On his way there, Nathan runs into Adelaide and tells her that he has to attend the prayer meeting. Adelaide does not believe him. She asks herself why she keeps putting up with Nathan's lies, and he tells her that he loves her ("Sue Me").

text: Sky and the gamblers arrive at the mission, much to Sarah's surprise. General Cartwright asks if anyone wishes to testify to their sins. Benny and Big Jule do, but another gambler named Harry The Horse lets slip that Sky only got them to the meeting because he won their souls in a dice game. The General is very pleased by this as it shows that good can come out of evil. Attempting to appear contrite, Nicely invents a dream that encouraged him to repent, and the gamblers join in with revivalist fervor ("Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). Brannigan arrives and threatens to arrest everyone for the crap game in the Mission, but Sarah clears them, saying that none of the gamblers were at the mission the previous night. After Brannigan leaves, Nathan confesses that they held the crap game in the mission. He also confesses to the bet he made with Sky about taking Sarah to Havana. He adds that he won the bet, to Sarah's shock, and she realizes that Sky wanted to protect her reputation and must genuinely care about her.

text: Sarah and Adelaide run into each other, and they commiserate and then resolve to marry their men anyway and reform them later ("Marry the Man Today"). Several weeks later, Nathan has opened a newsstand. Sky and Sarah have just been married, and Sky is playing the drum in the mission band. Adelaide and Nathan are about to get married at the mission, and Sky tells Nathan he'll lay eight to ten odds that he will be very happy. The title song is reprised ("Guys and Dolls" (Finale/Reprise)).

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text:
Act I

"Runyonland" – Orchestra
"Fugue for Tinhorns" – Nicely, Benny, Rusty
"Follow the Fold" – Sarah, Mission Band
"The Oldest Established" – Nathan, Nicely, Benny, Guys
"I'll Know" – Sarah, Sky
"A Bushel and a Peck" – Adelaide, Hot Box Girls
"Adelaide's Lament" – Adelaide
"Guys and Dolls" – Nicely, Benny
"Havana" – Orchestra
"If I Were a Bell" – Sarah
"My Time of Day/I've Never Been in Love Before" – Sky, Sarah

Act II

"Take Back Your Mink" – Adelaide, Hot Box Girls
"Adelaide's Second Lament" – Adelaide
"More I Cannot Wish You" – Arvide
"Crapshooters Ballet" – Orchestra
"Luck Be a Lady" – Sky, Guys
"Sue Me" – Miss Adelaide, Nathan
"Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" – Nicely, Company
"Marry the Man Today" – Adelaide, Sarah
"Guys and Dolls (Reprise)" – Company

text: Productions[edit]

text: Original productions[edit]

text: The musical premiered on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre (now Richard Rodgers Theatre) on November 24, 1950. It was directed by George S. Kaufman, with dances and musical numbers by Michael Kidd, scenic and lighting design by Jo Mielziner, costumes by Alvin Colt, and orchestrations by George Bassman and Ted Royal, with vocal arrangements by Herbert Greene[11] It starred Robert Alda (Sky), Sam Levene (Nathan), Isabel Bigley (Sarah), and Vivian Blaine (Adelaide). Iva Withers was a replacement as Adelaide. The musical ran for 1,200 performances, winning five 1951 Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical. Decca Records issued the original cast recording on 78 rpm records, which was later expanded and re-issued on LP, and then transferred to CD in the 1980s.

text: The West End premiere opened at the London Coliseum on May 28, 1953 and ran for 555 performances. The cast starred Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Lizbeth Webb and Jerry Wayne.[12][13] Lizbeth Webb was the only major principal who was British and was chosen to play the part of Sarah Brown by Frank Loesser. The show has had numerous revivals and tours and has become a popular choice for school and community theatre productions.

text: New York City Center 1955, 1965 and 1966 revivals[edit]

text: New York City Center mounted short runs of the musical in 1955, 1965 and 1966. A production starring Walter Matthau as Nathan Detroit, Helen Gallagher as Adelaide, Ray Shaw as Sky and Leila Martin as Sarah had 31 performances, running from April 20 to May 1, and May 31 to June 12, 1955.[14][15]

text: Another presentation at City Center, with Alan King as Nathan Detroit, Sheila MacRae as Adelaide, Jerry Orbach as Sky and Anita Gillette as Sarah, ran for 15 performances from April 28 to May 9, 1965. A 1966 production, starring Jan Murray as Nathan Detroit, Vivian Blaine reprising her role as Adelaide, Hugh O'Brian as Sky, and Barbara Meister as Sarah, ran for 23 performances, from June 8 to June 26, 1966.[16]

text: 1976 Broadway revival[edit]

text: An all-black cast staged the first Broadway revival of the show, which opened on July 11, 1976 in previews, officially on July 21, at The Broadway Theatre. It starred Robert Guillaume as Nathan Detroit, Norma Donaldson as Miss Adelaide, James Randolph as Sky and Ernestine Jackson as Sarah Brown. Guillaume and Jackson were nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards, and Ken Page as Nicely-Nicely won a Theatre World Award.

text: This production featured Motown-style musical arrangements by Danny Holgate and Horace Ott, and it was directed and choreographed by Billy Wilson. The entire production was under the supervision of Abe Burrows, and musical direction and choral arrangements were by Howard Roberts.

text: The show closed on February 13, 1977, after 12 previews and 239 performances. A cast recording was released subsequent to the show's opening.

text: 1982 London revival[edit]

text: Laurence Olivier had wanted to play Nathan Detroit, and began rehearsals for a planned 1971 London revival of Guys and Dolls at his National Theatre Company's Old Vic theatre. However, due to poor health he had to stop, and his revival never saw the light of day.[17]

text: In 1982, Richard Eyre directed a major revival at London's National Theatre. Eyre called it a "re-thinking" of the musical, and his production featured an award-winning neon-lit set design inspired by Rudi Stern's 1979 book Let There Be Neon,[18] and brassier orchestrations with vintage yet innovative harmonies.[19][20] The show's choreography by David Toguri included a large-scale tap dance number of the "Guys and Dolls" finale, performed by the principals and entire cast. The revival opened March 9, 1982, and was an overnight sensation,[21] running for nearly four years and breaking all box office records.[22][23] The original cast featured Bob Hoskins as Nathan Detroit, Julia McKenzie as Adelaide, Ian Charleson as Sky and Julie Covington as Sarah.[24] The production won five Olivier Awards, including for McKenzie and Eyre and for Best Musical. Eyre also won the Evening Standard Award, and Hoskins won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award.

text: In October 1982, Hoskins was replaced by Trevor Peacock, Charleson by Paul Jones, and Covington by Belinda Sinclair; in the spring of 1983 McKenzie was replaced by Imelda Staunton and Fiona Hendley replaced Sinclair. This production closed in late 1983 to make way for a Broadway try-out of the ill-fated musical Jean Seberg, which following critical failure closed after four months.[25] Eyre's Guys and Dolls returned to the National from April through September 1984, this time starring Lulu, Norman Rossington, Clarke Peters and Betsy Brantley.[26][27] After a nationwide tour, this production transferred to the West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre, where it ran from June 1985 to April 1986.[28][29]

text: Following Ian Charleson's untimely death from AIDS at the age of 40, in November 1990 two reunion performances of Guys and Dolls, with almost all of the original 1982 cast and musicians, were given at the National Theatre as a tribute to Charleson. The tickets sold out immediately, and the dress rehearsal was also packed. The proceeds from the performances were donated to the new Ian Charleson Day Centre HIV clinic at the Royal Free Hospital, and to scholarships in Charleson's name at LAMDA.[30]

text: 1992 Broadway revival[edit]

text: The 1992 Broadway revival was the most successful American remounting of the show since its original opening. Directed by Jerry Zaks, it starred Nathan Lane as Nathan Detroit, Peter Gallagher as Sky, Faith Prince as Adelaide and Josie de Guzman as Sarah. This production played at the Martin Beck Theatre from April 14, 1992 to January 8, 1995, with 1,143 performances.

text: The production received a rave review from Frank Rich in The New York Times, stating "It's hard to know which genius, and I do mean genius, to celebrate first while cheering the entertainment at the Martin Beck."[31] It received eight Tony Award nominations, and won four, including Best Revival, and the show also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival. This revival featured various revisions to the show's score, including brand new music for the "Runyonland", "A Bushel and a Peck", "Take Back Your Mink" and "Havana". The orchestrations were redesigned by Michael Starobin, and there were new dance arrangements added to "A Bushel and a Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink".

text: A one-hour documentary film captured the recording sessions of the production's original cast album. Titled Guys and Dolls: Off the Record, the film aired on PBS's Great Performances series in December 1992, and was released on DVD in 2007.[32][33] Complete takes of most of the show's songs are featured, as well as coaching from director Zaks, and commentary sessions by stars Gallagher, de Guzman, Lane, and Prince on the production and their characters.

text: 1996 London revival[edit]

text: Richard Eyre repeated his 1982 success with another National Theatre revival of the show, this time in a limited run. It starred Henry Goodman as Nathan Detroit, Imelda Staunton returning as Adelaide, Clarke Peters returning as Sky and Joanna Riding as Sarah. Clive Rowe played Nicely-Nicely Johnson, and David Toguri returned as choreographer. The production ran from December 17, 1996 through March 29, 1997 and from July 2, 1997 to November 22, 1997.[34][35] It received three Olivier Award nominations, winning one: Best Supporting Performance in a Musical went to Clive Rowe.[36] Richard Eyre won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Director, and the production won Best Musical.

text: 2005 West End revival[edit]

text: The 2005 West End revival opened at London's Piccadilly Theatre in June 2005 and closed in April 2007. This revival, directed by Michael Grandage, starred Ewan McGregor as Sky, Jenna Russell as Sarah, Jane Krakowski as Adelaide, and Douglas Hodge as Nathan Detroit.[37] During the run, Nigel Harman, Adam Cooper, Norman Bowman and Ben Richards took over as Sky; Kelly Price, Amy Nuttall and Lisa Stokke took over as Sarah; Sarah Lancashire, Sally Ann Triplett, Claire Sweeney, Lynsey Britton and Samantha Janus took over as Adelaide; and Nigel Lindsay, Neil Morrissey, Patrick Swayze, Alex Ferns and Don Johnson took over as Nathan Detroit. This production added the song "Adelaide" that Frank Loesser had written for the 1955 film adaptation. According to a September 2007 article in Playbill.com, this West End production had been scheduled to begin previews for a transfer to Broadway in February 2008, but this plan was dropped.[38]

text: 2009 Broadway revival[edit]

text: A 2009 Broadway revival of the show opened on March 1, 2009 at the Nederlander Theatre. The cast starred Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit, Lauren Graham, in her Broadway debut, as Adelaide, Craig Bierko as Sky and Kate Jennings Grant as Sarah. Des McAnuff was the director, and the choreographer was Sergio Trujillo.[39][40] The show opened to generally negative reviews.[41] The New York Times called it "static" and "uninspired",[42] the New York Post said, "How can something so zippy be so tedious?"[43] and Time Out New York wrote, "Few things are more enervating than watching good material deflate."[44] However, the show received a highly favorable review from The New Yorker,[45] and the producers decided to keep the show open in hopes of positive audience response. The New York Post reported on March 4 that producer Howard Panter "[said] he'll give Guys and Dolls at least seven weeks to find an audience."[46] The revival closed on June 14, 2009 after 28 previews and 113 performances.[47]

text: 2015–16 West End revival and UK/Ireland tour[edit]

text: A revival opened at the 2015 Chichester Festival. This moved to Manchester and Birmingham before moving onto a West End opening at the Savoy Theatre on December 10, 2015 for previews with a full opening on January 6, 2016 until March 12, 2016. The production stars Sophie Thompson as Adelaide and Jamie Parker as Sky.[48] The production then transferred to the Phoenix Theatre, with Oliver Tompsett as Sky, Samantha Spiro as Adelaide and Richard Kind as Nathan. On June 28, 2016, the role of Miss Adelaide was taken over by Rebel Wilson, and Nathan Detroit was played by Simon Lipkin.[49] The tour continues around UK cities and Dublin.[50]

text: 2017/2018 UK all-black production[edit]

text: Talawa Theatre Company and Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre produced the UK's first all-black Guys and Dolls in 2017. The production opened on December 2, 2017 and following an extension will run to February 27, 2018 at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.[51][52][53][51][54][55] The cast includes Ray Fearon as Nathan Detroit, Ashley Zhangazha as Sky Masterson, Abiona Omonua, and Lucy Vandi.[56][57]

text: In this production, the musical was relocated to Harlem, 1939, with the music referencing jazz, and gospel. Director Michael Buffong said, "Pre-war Harlem was all about the hustle. The creativity of that era was born from a unique collision of talent and circumstance as people escaped the agricultural and oppressive south via the 'underground railroad' into the highly urbanised and industrialised north. Much of our popular culture, from dance to music, has its roots in that period. Our Guys and Dolls brings all of this to the fore."[51][58]

text: Reviews particularly praised the music, relocation to Harlem, and sense of spectacle: The Guardian noted, "the gamblers ... are a bunch of sharp-suited peacocks clad in rainbow hues."[59] The Times commented, "Whoever had the idea of moving this classic musical from one part of New York to another bit, just up the road, needs to be congratulated. This version of Frank Loesser’s musical, which swirls around the lives of the petty gangsters and their 'dolls' who inhabit New York’s underbelly, moves the action to Harlem at its prewar height in 1939. It is a Talawa production with an all-black cast and it is terrific from the get-go."[60] The Observer stated, "Relocated to Harlem, this fine new production of Frank Loesser’s classic musical retains a threat of violence under a cartoon-bright exterior."[61]

text: Other[edit]

text: In 1995, a Las Vegas production, performed without intermission, starred Jack Jones, Maureen McGovern and Frank Gorshin.[citation needed]

text: Charles Randolph-Wright directed a production at Washington's Arena Stage, starring Maurice Hines (Nathan Detroit) and Alexandra Foucard (Adelaide), opening on December 30, 1999.[62][63] The production received six Helen Hayes Award nominations.[64] With support from Jo Sullivan Loesser, the production began a national tour in August 2001.[65][66] The cast recording from this production, released in November 2001, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.[67][68]

text: An Australian remount of the Michael Grandage West End production of Guys and Dolls opened in Melbourne, Australia on April 5, 2008. The show starred Lisa McCune, Marina Prior, Garry McDonald, Ian Stenlake, Shane Jacobson, Wayne Scott Kermond, and Magda Szubanski, and ran at the Princess Theatre.[69] The Melbourne season closed in August 2008 and transferred to Sydney from March 13, 2009 to May 31, 2009 at the Capitol Theatre, retaining the Melbourne cast.[70]

text: In August 2009, a concert version ran at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California, starring Scott Bakula (Nathan Detroit), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Sky Masterson), Ellen Greene (Miss Adelaide), and Jessica Biel (Sarah Brown).[71]

text: In February 2011, a co-production between Clwyd Theatr Cymru, the New Wolsey Theatre and the Salisbury Playhouse opened at Clwyd Theatr. Directed by Peter Rowe and with music direction by Greg Palmer and choreography by Francesca Jaynes, the show was performed by a cast of 22 actor-musicians, with all music played live on stage by the cast. The show also toured Cardiff, Swansea, and other Welsh cities as well as some English cities, receiving a positive review in The Guardian.[72][73]

text: A concert performance ran at London's Cadogan Hall from 22–25 August 2012, featuring Dennis Waterman, Ruthie Henshall, Anna-Jane Casey, and Lance Ellington (Strictly Come Dancing), with musical director Richard Balcombe and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and Choir.[74]

text: In April 2014, a one-night-only performance took place at Carnegie Hall, starring Nathan Lane reprising the role that made him a star, Megan Mullally, Patrick Wilson and Sierra Boggess. It was directed by Jack O'Brien and featured the Orchestra of St. Luke's playing the original orchestrations.[75]

text: Reception[edit]

text: The original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls opened to unanimously positive reviews. Critics praised the musical's faithfulness to Damon Runyon's style and characterizations. Richard Watts of the New York Post said "Guys and Dolls is just what it should be to celebrate the Runyon spirit...[it is] filled with the salty characters and richly original language sacred to the memory of the late Master".[76] William Hawkins of the New York World-Telegram & Sun stated, "It recaptures what [Runyon] knew about Broadway, that its wickedness is tinhorn, but its gallantry is as pure and young as Little Eva".[76] Robert Coleman of the New York Daily Mirror declared, "We think Damon would have relished it as much as we did".[76]

text: The book and score were greatly praised as well; John Chapman of the New York Daily News declared, "The book is a work of easy and delightful humor. Its music and lyrics, by Frank Loesser, are so right for the show and so completely lacking in banality, that they amount to an artistic triumph".[76] Coleman stated, "Frank Loesser has written a score that will get a big play on the juke boxes, over the radio, and in bistros throughout the land. His lyrics are especially notable in that they help Burrows's topical gags to further the plot". In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Mr. Loesser's lyrics and songs have the same affectionate appreciation of the material as the book, which is funny without being self-conscious or mechanical".[77]

text: Multiple critics asserted that the work was of great significance to musical theatre. John McClain of the New York Journal American proclaimed, "it is the best and most exciting thing of its kind since Pal Joey. It is a triumph and a delight".[76] Atkinson stated, "we might as well admit that Guys and Dolls is a work of art. It is spontaneous and has form, style, and spirit."[77] Chapman asserted, "In all departments, Guys and Dolls is a perfect musical comedy".[76]

text: Film adaptations[edit]

text: On November 3, 1955 the film version of the musical was released, starring Marlon Brando as Sky, Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit, and Jean Simmons as Sarah, with Vivian Blaine reprising her role as Adelaide. The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Samuel Goldwyn.

text: Three new songs, written by Frank Loesser, were added to the film: "Pet Me Poppa"; "A Woman in Love"; and "Adelaide", which was written specifically for Sinatra. Five songs from the stage musical were omitted from the movie: "A Bushel and a Peck", "My Time of Day", "I've Never Been In Love Before", "More I Cannot Wish You", and "Marry the Man Today".

text: 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights to the musical in early 2013, and plan to cast Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a remake of Guys and Dolls.[78]

text: Casts of major productions[edit]

text: The following table shows the principal casts of the major productions of Guys and Dolls:

text:
Casts of major productions

Original Broadway Production
Original London Production
1955 Film
1976 Broadway Revival
1982 London Revival
1992 Broadway Revival
2005 London Revival
2008 Melbourne Production
2009 Broadway Revival

Sky Masterson
Robert Alda
Jerry Wayne
Marlon Brando
James Randolph
Ian Charleson
Peter Gallagher
Ewan McGregor
Ian Stenlake
Craig Bierko

Sister Sarah Brown
Isabel Bigley
Lizbeth Webb
Jean Simmons
Ernestine Jackson
Julie Covington
Josie de Guzman
Jenna Russell
Lisa McCune
Kate Jennings Grant

Nathan Detroit
Sam Levene
Frank Sinatra
Robert Guillaume
Bob Hoskins
Nathan Lane
Douglas Hodge
Garry McDonald
Oliver Platt

Miss Adelaide
Vivian Blaine
Norma Donaldson
Julia McKenzie
Faith Prince
Jane Krakowski
Marina Prior
Lauren Graham

Nicely-Nicely Johnson
Stubby Kaye
Ken Page
David Healy
Walter Bobbie
Martyn Ellis
Shane Jacobson
Tituss Burgess

Arvide Abernathy
Pat Rooney
Ernest Butcher
Regis Toomey
Emett "Babe" Wallace
John Normington
John Carpenter
Niall Buggy
Russell Newman
Jim Ortlieb

Big Jule
B.S. Pully
Lew Herbert
B.S. Pully
Walter White
Jim Carter
Herschel Sparber
Sevan Stephan
Magda Szubanski
Glenn Fleshler

Harry the Horse
Tom Pedi
Sheldon Leonard
John Russell
Bill Paterson
Ernie Sabella
Norman Bowman
Adam Murphy
Jim Walton

Benny Southstreet
Johnny Silver
Christophe Pierre
Barrie Rutter
J.K. Simmons
Cory English
Wayne Scott Kermond
Steve Rosen

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text:
Original Broadway production

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1951
Tony Award
Best Musical
Won

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Robert Alda
Won

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Isabel Bigley
Won

Best Choreography
Michael Kidd
Won

Best Direction of a Musical
George S. Kaufman
Won

text:
1965 New York City Center production

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1965
Tony Award
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Jerry Orbach
Nominated

text:
1976 Broadway revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1977
Drama Desk Award
Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Robert Guillaume
Nominated

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
Ernestine Jackson
Nominated

Theatre World Award
Ken Page
Won

Tony Award
Best Revival
Nominated

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Robert Guillaume
Nominated

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Ernestine Jackson
Nominated

text:
1982 London revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1982
Critics' Circle Theatre Award[79]
Best Actor
Bob Hoskins
Won

Best Designer
John Gunter
Won

Evening Standard Award
Best Director
Richard Eyre
Won

Laurence Olivier Award
Best Musical of the Year
Won

Best Actor in a Musical
Bob Hoskins
Nominated

Best Actress in a Musical
Julia McKenzie
Won

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
David Healy
Won

Best Director
Richard Eyre
Won

Best Set Design
John Gunter
Won

text:
1992 Broadway revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1992
Drama Desk Award
Outstanding Revival
Won

Outstanding Actor in a Musical
Nathan Lane
Won

Peter Gallagher
Nominated

Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Faith Prince
Won

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Walter Bobbie
Nominated

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Jerry Zaks
Won

Outstanding Choreography
Christopher Chadman
Nominated

Outstanding Set Design
Tony Walton
Won

Outstanding Costume Design
William Ivey Long
Won

Outstanding Lighting Design
Paul Gallo
Won

Tony Award
Best Revival
Won

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Nathan Lane
Nominated

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Faith Prince
Won

Josie de Guzman
Nominated

Best Direction of a Musical
Jerry Zaks
Won

Best Choreography
Christopher Chadman
Nominated

Best Scenic Design
Tony Walton
Won

Best Lighting Design
Paul Gallo
Nominated

text:
1996 London revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

1996
Critics' Circle Theatre Award
Best Director
Richard Eyre
Won

1997
Laurence Olivier Award
Best Actress in a Musical
Imelda Staunton
Nominated

Joanna Riding
Nominated

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Clive Rowe
Won

text:
2005 London revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

2006
Laurence Olivier Award
Outstanding Musical Production
Won

Best Actor in a Musical
Douglas Hodge
Nominated

Ewan McGregor
Nominated

Best Actress in a Musical
Jane Krakowski
Won

Jenna Russell
Nominated

Best Theatre Choreographer
Rob Ashford
Nominated

Best Sound Design
Terry Jardine and Chris Full
Nominated

Best Lighting Design
Howard Harrison
Nominated

text:
2008 Australian production

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

2008
Helpmann Award
Best Musical
Nominated

Best Actress in a Musical
Marina Prior
Nominated

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Shane Jacobson
Won

Best Direction in a Musical
Michael Grandage and Jamie Lloyd
Nominated

Best Choreography in a Musical
Rob Ashford
Nominated

Best Sound Design
Chris Full, John Scandrett and Nick Reich
Nominated

text:
2009 Broadway revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

2009
Tony Award
Best Revival of a Musical
Nominated

Best Scenic Design
Robert Brill
Nominated

text:
2015 London revival

Year
Award Ceremony
Category
Nominee
Result

2015
Laurence Olivier Award
Best Musical Revival
Nominated

Best Actor in a Musical
David Haig
Nominated

Jamie Parker
Nominated

Best Actress in a Musical
Sophie Thompson
Nominated

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Gavin Spokes
Nominated

Best Theatre Choreographer
Carlos Acosta & Andrew Wright
Nominated

text: Recordings[edit]

text: There are numerous recordings of the show's score on compact disc. The most notable include:

text:
Original 1950 Broadway Cast[80]
1955 Film Soundtrack[81][82]
1963 Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre studio recording (Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Dean Martin, Jo Stafford, The McGuire Sisters, Dinah Shore, Sammy Davis, Jr., Allan Sherman)[83]
1976 Broadway Revival Cast[84]
1982 London Revival Cast[85][86]
1992 Broadway Revival Cast[87]
1995 Complete Studio Recording (features the entire score for the first time on CD; with Frank Loesser's daughter Emily as Sarah Brown; conducted by John Owen Edwards)[88]

tag: ul

text: Notes[edit]

text:
^ Jump up to: a b Nadel, Ira Bruce. Double act: a life of Tom Stoppard. Methuen, 2002. p. 542.
Jump up ^ "Damon Runyon". Authors. The eBooks-Library. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
Jump up ^ Stempel, 435
Jump up ^ Suskin, 275
^ Jump up to: a b Zolotow, Maurice. "Guys, Dolls and Runyon". The New York Times, Nov. 12, 1950, Section 2, p. 1,3.
^ Jump up to: a b Stempel, 434
Jump up ^ Suskin, 272-276
Jump up ^ Burrows, Abe (1980). Honest Abe. Boston: Atlantic-Little, Brown, p. 149, cited in Stempel, 434-435
Jump up ^ Scott Simon (host). "Creation of the musical Guys and Dolls, Weekend Edition Saturday, National Public Radio, November 2=pk2000
Jump up ^ Herrmann, Dorothy (1982). With Malice Toward All. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 60–61.
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information. IBDB. Retrieved on 2012-05-21.
Jump up ^ Listing, 1953 guidetomusicaltheatre.com, retrieved March 5, 2010
Jump up ^ The London Coliseum history, Programme arthurlloyd.co.uk, retrieved March 5, 2010
Jump up ^ Norton, Richard C. A Chronology of American Musical Theater: 1952 - 2001, Volume 3 Oxford Univ. Press, 2002. p. 33.
Jump up ^ "Guys and Dolls (City Center Revival, 1955)" broadwayworld.com 2011. Last accessed 22 Mar 2011.
Jump up ^ "Guys and Dolls (City Center Revival, 1966)". Broadwayworld.com
Jump up ^ Vermilye, Jerry. "'Guys and Dolls'" The Complete Films of Laurence Olivier, Citadel Press, 1992, ISBN 0-8065-1302-0, p. 53
Jump up ^ Eyre, Richard. "Directing the National Theatre Guys and Dolls." In: Loesser, Frank, et al. The Guys and Dolls Book. Methuen, 1982. p. 36.
Jump up ^ Mordden, Ethan. Broadway Babies: The People Who Made the American Musical. Oxford University Press US, 1988. p. 230.
Jump up ^ The New Yorker, Volume 64, Issues 1-10. F-R Pub. Corp., 1988. p. 103
Jump up ^ Battersby, Kate. "The Cast Were in Shock at the Avalanche of Appreciation." The Telegraph. May 31, 2005.
Jump up ^ Kullman, Colby H. and William C. Young. Theatre Companies of the World, Volume 1. Greenwood Press, 1986. p. 691.
Jump up ^ "Huge Team Help Stage Revival of Broadway's Guys and Dolls." The Bath Chronicle. April 21, 2011.
Jump up ^ Jensen, Gregory. "How the British beat Broadway at its own game", United Press International, March 22, 1982 (no page number)
Jump up ^ Jensen, Gregory. "London's West End outscores Broadway with bonanza of hit-and-miss musicals", United Press International, February 22, 1984
Jump up ^ Wolf, Matt. "Musical on Jean Seberg Stirs Controversy in London", The Associated Press, November 11, 1983 (no page number)
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls (Royal National Theatre Production, 1984) at BroadwayWorld.com
Jump up ^ Scottish Field, Volume 131. Holmes McDougall, 1985.
Jump up ^ ""Guys and Dolls' listing, Prince of Wales Theatre" thisistheatre.com, retrieved May 28, 2010
Jump up ^ Benedict, David. "Good Night, Sweet Prince." The Independent. 6 January 1995.
Jump up ^ Rich, Frank.Review/Theater: Guys and Dolls; Damon Runyon's New York Lives Anew'The New York Times, April 15, 1992
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls: Off the Record DVD
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls: Off the Record at the Internet Movie Database
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls at the UK Theatre Web
Jump up ^ ""Guys and Dolls', 1996" broadwayworld.com, retrieved May 28, 2010
Jump up ^ "Olivier Winners 1997" officiallondontheatre.co.uk, retrieved May 28, 2010
Jump up ^ playbill.com/news/article/107294.html "Adelaide's Lament: London Guys and Dolls Closes April 14" Archived 2011-10-20 at the Wayback Machine., playbill.com,
Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. "Guys and Dolls Revival Unlikely for Spring" Archived 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine., playbill.com, September 11, 2007
Jump up ^ "Luck Be a Lady": Guys and Dolls Returns to Broadway Feb. 5 Archived 2009-02-22 at the Wayback Machine. broadway.com
Jump up ^ Guys & Dolls Revival Plays First Preview bwaybeat.blogspot.com
Jump up ^ Review summary for 2009 Guys and Dolls at New York Theatre Guide
Jump up ^ Brantley, Ben. "It’s a Cinch That the Bum Is Under the Thumb of Some Little Broad", The New York Times, March 2, 2009
Jump up ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth. "This Revival is a Bad Bet: Guys & Dolls Bores in Broadway Return." New York Post. March 2, 2009.
Jump up ^ Feldman, Adam.Review:Guys and DollsTime Out New York, Mar 5–11, 2009
Jump up ^ Lahr, John. "Broadway Boogie-Woogie: Guys and Dolls Rolls the Dice Again." The New Yorker. March 9, 2009.
Jump up ^ Riedel, Michael, The New York Post, "PRODUCER BACKS PLAY THE CRITICS DON'T LIKE", March 4, 2009, p. 40
Jump up ^ Adelaide's New Lament: Broadway's Guys and Dolls to Close June 14 Archived 2009-06-12 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ "Full casting announced for Guys and Dolls at the Savoy Theatre in London's West End". www.londontheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
Jump up ^ http://attitude.co.uk/review-rebel-wilson-in-guys-and-dolls-at-londons-phoenix-theatre/
Jump up ^ "GUYS AND DOLLS Confirmed to Transfer to the Phoenix Theatre!". Retrieved 2016-01-29.
^ Jump up to: a b c Masso, Giverny. "Cast announced for UK’s first all-black 'Guys and Dolls'" thestage.co.uk, October 18, 2017
Jump up ^ "Casting Revealed For UK's First All-Black GUYS AND DOLLS' " broadwayworld.com, October 18, 2017
Jump up ^ "Jubilee Manchester Royal Exchange" The Guardian, June 7, 2017
Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. "Cast Announced for U.K.’s First All-Black Production of 'Guys and Dolls' " Playbill, October 18, 2017
Jump up ^ [1] digitalspy.com
Jump up ^ [2] metro.co.uk, October 18, 2017
Jump up ^ Guys and Dolls talawa.com
Jump up ^ https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/13/guys-and-dolls-manchester-royal-exchange-michael-buffong-interview
Jump up ^ https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/dec/07/guys-and-dolls-review-royal-exchange-manchester
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Jump up ^ Butler, Michelle. “Guys and Dolls: A Musical Fable of Broadway” talkinbroadway.com
Jump up ^ Boehm, Mike. “A 'Guys and Dolls' Just Like Harlem” latimes.com, April 14, 2002.
Jump up ^ Jones, Kenneth, and Robert Simonson. “Indian Ink, Cabaret Lead 2000 Helen Hayes Award Winners” playbill.com, May 9, 2000.
Jump up ^ Simonson, Robert, and Christine Ehren. “Arena Stage Guys and Dolls to Tour U.S. Starting Fall 2001; Goal Is Bway” playbill.com, Jan. 23, 2001.
Jump up ^ Simonson, Robert. “National Tour of Hines Guys and Dolls to Begin Aug. 28” playbill.com, May 10, 2001.
Jump up ^ Jones, Kenneth, and Robert Simonson. “Still Rockin' the Boat: Touring Guys and Dolls Gets Cast Album Nov. 6” playbill.com, Nov. 6, 2001.
Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. “Bernadette Peters, Hairspray and Millie Among Grammy Nominees” playbill.com, Jan. 7, 2003.
Jump up ^ Glickman, Stephanie. "'Guys and Dolls' review, Australian Stage australianstage.com, 08 April 2008
Jump up ^ Blake, Jason. "'Guys and Dolls' review, The Sydney Morning Herald smh.com.au, March 16, 2009
Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. "'Luck Be a Lady'": Guys and Dolls in Concert Plays the Hollywood Bowl July 31-Aug. 2" playbill.com, July 31, 2009
Jump up ^ Mahoney, Elisabeth. "Guys and Dolls – Review: New Theatre, Cardiff". The Guardian. 16 March 2011.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Suskin, Steven. Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre, pp. 272-276. Schirmer Books, New York, 1990. ISBN 0-02-872625-1
^ Jump up to: a b Atkinson, Brooks. "At the Theatre". The New York Times, November 25, 1950. p. 21
Jump up ^ Fleming Jr., Mike "Fox Seals ‘Guys And Dolls’ Rights; Wants Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt To Fill Frank Sinatra And Marlon Brando Shoes." Deadline.com (April 24, 2013).
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tag: ol


document_title: Golden Temple

question_text: who built golden temple and in which year

text: Golden Temple

text: History[edit]

text: The Harmandir Sahib literally means the Temple of God. Guru Amar Das had ordered Guru Ram Das to create a nectarous tank as a place for worship for the Sikh religion. Guru Ram Das instructed all his Sikhs to join in the work, under Bhai Budha's superintendence, and engaged labourers to assist them. He said that the tank of nectar should be God's home, and whoever bathed in it shall obtain all spiritual and temporal advantages. During the progress of the work, the hut in which the Guru first sheltered himself was expanded for his residence; it is now known as the Guru's Mahal, or palace.[12]

text: In 1578 Guru Ram Das excavated a tank, which subsequently became known as Amritsar (Pool of the Nectar of Immortality),[13] giving its name to the city that grew around it. In due course, the Harmandir Sahib,[14] was built in the middle of this tank and became the supreme centre of Sikhism. Its sanctum came to house the Adi Granth comprising compositions of Sikh Gurus and other saints considered to have Sikh values and philosophies, e.g., Baba Farid, and Kabir. The compilation of the Adi Granth was started by the fifth guru of Sikhism, Guru Arjan.

text: Construction[edit]

text: Guru Arjan conceived the idea of creating a central place of worship for the Sikhs and designed it. Earlier the planning to excavate the holy tank (Amritsar or Amrit Sarovar) was chalked out by Guru Amar Das, the Third Sikh Guru, but it was executed by Guru Ram Das under the supervision of Baba Budha. The land for the site was acquired by the earlier Guru Sahibs on payment or free of cost from the Zamindars (landlords) of native villages. The plan to establish a town settlement was also made and the construction work on the Sarovar (the tank) and the town started simultaneously in 1570. The work on both projects was completed in 1577. In December 1588, Guru Arjan initiated the construction of the gurdwara and the foundation stone was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir on 28 December 1588.[15][16][17][17][18][19]

text: The gurdwara was completed in 1604. Guru Arjan installed the Guru Granth Sahib in it and appointed Baba Buddha as the first Granthi (reader) of it in August 1604. In the mid-18th century it was attacked by the Afghans, by one of Ahmed Shah Abdali's generals, Jahan Khan, and had to be substantially rebuilt in the 1760s.

text: Operation Blue Star[edit]

text: Blue Star was an Indian military operation undertaken between 1 and 8 June 1984 that severely damaged or destroyed large portions of the temple complex. India's Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, ordered the Indian Army to launch the operation. The army, led by General Kuldip Singh Brar, brought infantry, artillery and tanks into the Harmandir Sahib to destroy the Dharam Yudh Morcha led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. During the Dharam Yudh Morcha thousands of Sikhs courted arrest.[citation needed] Fierce fighting ensued between Sikhs and the Indian Army, with heavy casualties on both sides. The Harmandir Sahib complex also suffered much damage during the attack, especially the holy Akal Takht. Within six months, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards killed her as revenge for the operation.

text: This attack is regarded by Sikhs, and the international human rights community[citation needed], as a desecration of Sikhism's holiest shrine and discrimination against a minority in India. In 1986, the repairs performed on the Akal Takht Sahib after the attack, which the Rajiv Gandhi government had undertaken without consultation,[20] were removed. A new Akal Takht Sahib was completed in 1999 by Kar Sevaks (volunteers).

text: Architectural features[edit]

text: Some of the architectural features of the Harmandir Sahib were intended to be symbolic of the Sikh world view.[21] Instead of the normal custom of building a gurdwara on high land, it was built at a lower level than the surrounding land so that devotees would have to go down steps to enter it.[21] In addition, instead of one entrance, Sri Harmandir Sahib has four entrances.[21]

text: The gurdwara is surrounded by the Sarovar, a large lake or holy tank, which consists of Amrit ("holy water" or "immortal nectar") and is fed by the Ravi River. There are four entrances to the gurdwara, signifying the importance of acceptance and openness. There are three holy trees (bers), each signifying a historical event or Sikh saint. Inside the gurdwara there are many memorial plaques that commemorate past Sikh historical events, saints and martyrs, including commemorative inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who died fighting in World War I and World War II.

text: Much of the present decorative gilding and marblework dates from the early 19th century. All the gold and exquisite marble work were conducted under the patronage of Hukam Singh Chimni and Emperor Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Darshani Deorhi Arch stands at the beginning of the causeway to the Harmandir Sahib; it is 6.2 metres (20.3 ft) high and 6 metres (20 ft) in width. The gold plating on the Harmandir Sahib was begun by Ranjit Singh and was finished in 1830. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a major donor of wealth and materials for the shrine.

text: The Harmandir Sahib complex also houses the Akal Takht (the throne of the timeless one), built by the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind as an authority for administering justice and consideration of temporal issues. Within the complex, the Akal Takht constitutes a counterpoint with the holy shrine, in that the Harmandir Sahib is the abode of God's spiritual attribute, and the Akal Takht is the seat of God's temporal authority.[5]

text: World's largest free kitchen (Langar)[edit]

text: Harmandir Sahib is home to the world's largest free kitchen. According to the Croatian Times, it can serve free food for up to 100,000 - 300,000 people every day.[22] At the Langar (Kitchen), food is served to all visitors regardless of faith, religion, or background. Vegetarian food is served to ensure that all people, even those with dietary restrictions, can eat together as equals. The institution of the Sikh langar, or free kitchen, was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. It was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender, or social status, a revolutionary concept in the caste-ordered society of 16th century India where Sikhism began. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness, and oneness of all humankind. Every Sikh Gurdwara (place of worship) has a langar, providing free vegetarian food for all comers.

text: The kitchen has two dining halls, which have a combined capability of 5000 people. People come up to and sit down to eat on the carpets on the floor, are served food by the volunteers, and are ushered out respectfully to make room for the next round of diners.

text: Visiting guidelines[edit]

text: In keeping with the rule observed at all Sikh gurdwaras worldwide, the Harmandir Sahib is open to all persons regardless of their religion, colour, creed, caste or gender. The only restrictions on the Harmandir Sahib's visitors concern their behaviour when entering and while visiting:

text:
Maintaining the purity of the sacred space and of one's body while in it:

Upon entering the premises, removing one's shoes (leaving them off for the duration of one's visit) and washing one's feet in the small pool of water provided;
Not drinking alcohol, eating meat, or smoking cigarettes or other drugs while in the shrine

Dressing appropriately:

Full body must be covered, no shorts
Wearing a head covering (a sign of respect) (the gurdwara provides head scarves for visitors who have not brought a suitable covering);[23]
Not wearing shoes (see above).

How to act:

When listening to Gurbani, one must also sit on the ground while in the Darbar Sahib as a sign of deference to both the Guru Granth Sahib and God.

text: First-time visitors are advised to begin their visit at the information office and then proceed to the Central Sikh Museum near the main entrance and clock tower.[tone]

text: The Harimandir Sahib runs one of the largest free kitchens in the world, serving 100,000 people on average daily. The meal consists of flat bread and lentil soup.[24]

text: Celebrations[edit]

text: One of the most important festivals is Vaisakhi, which is celebrated in the second week of April (usually the 13th). Sikhs celebrate the founding of the Khalsa on this day and it is celebrated with fervour in the Harmandir Sahib. Other important Sikh religious days such as the birth of Guru Ram Das, martyrdom day of Guru Teg Bahadur, the birthday of the Sikh founder Guru Nanak, etc., are also celebrated with religious piety. Similarly Diwali is one of the festivals which sees the Harmandir Sahib beautifully illuminated with Diyas (lamps); lights and fireworks are discharged. Most Sikhs visit Amritsar and the Harmandir Sahib at least once during their lifetime, particularly and mostly during special occasions in their life such as birthdays, marriages, childbirth, etc.

text: Visitors' attractions[edit]

text: Central Sikh Museum[edit]

text: The entrance from the plaza side holds a museum on history of the Sikhs on the first floor just over the entrance.

text: Visitor centre[edit]

text: On Dec 22, 2016, a high-tech State of the Art visitors centre was opened for public. Hi-tech story-telling at the basement of the Golden Temple plaza was launched and opened for public amid 5,000 pilgrims on Wednesday. Besides the daily footfall of pilgrims at the shrine, a large number of people had gathered outside the basement for their turn to witness the 3D technology and synchronisation installed in galleries giving a tour of the Sikh history and ethos. [25][26]