On Nov. 24, 1950, Guys and Dolls, based on the short stories of Damon Runyon, opened at the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre and ran for 1,200 performances on Broadway. It won all five Tonys for which is was nominated: musical, leading actor (Alda), featured actress (Bigley), choreography (Kidd), and direction (Kaufman). Guys and Dolls was selected as the winner of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but because librettist Abe Burrows had been investigated by the HUAC, the Columbia University trustees vetoed the selection and did not award a prize for drama that year. The show has had several award-winning Broadway and London revivals, as well as a 1955 film adaptation. In 1998, the original Broadway cast album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The original Broadway cast included Robert Alda (Sky Masterson), Isabel Bigley (Sister Sarah Brown), Sam Levene (Nathan Detroit), Vivan Blaine (Miss Adelaide), Stubby Kaye (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), Pat Rooney (Arvide Abernathy), B.S. Pully (Big Jule), Tom Pedi (Harry the Horse), and Johnny Silver (Benny Southstreet). The creative team included Feuer & Martin (producers), Frank Loesser (music, lyrics), Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling (book), Irving Actman (music direction), Herbert Greene (vocal direction, arrangements), George Bassman and Ted Royal (music arrangements), George S. Kaufman (direction), Michael Kidd (choreography), Jo Mielziner (sets, lights), and Alvin Colt (costumes).
For more about the show, read my post about the making of the musical. Below is Frank Sinatra with Stubby Kaye and Johnny Silver (both recreating their Broadway roles) singing the title song in the Guys and Dolls film (1955).