Depression-era suits and hats, high-flying dancers and a whole lot of dice: Midcentury cats and theater fans alike were in for an impressive show this weekend. The School of Dramatic Arts put on a brightly-colored, high-octane musical masterclass, with its fourth-year BFA musical theatre students right at the heart.

“Guys and Dolls” tells two stories of romance and gambling in a fantastical Manhattan based on Damon Runyon’s stories of post-prohibition New York City. Sky Masterson (Gabriel Navarro) and Nathan Detroit (Bruno Koskoff) run a wager that puts the former in love while the latter is up against the wall — winning a “doll” over was the bet, but missionary Sarah Brown (Madigan Rear) proves to be no pushover.

In a story that inherits antiquated, of-its-time misogynistic undertones — and direction that unfortunately does little to avoid — it feels like cosmic justice that the two women leads are the lifeblood of the show. Rear’s Sarah Brown feels plucked out of the 1950s, with a warm and curious character arc perfectly complemented by her pitch-perfect old-soul timbre.

Opposite Koskoff’s Detroit, Neema Muteti as Miss Adelaide and her powerhouse voice are as sweet as a spoonful of sugar each time she takes the stage. Whether it be in one of two numbers alongside her Hot Box Girls or hearing Nathan’s pleas in “Sue Me,” Muteti heals theatregoers like chicken noodle soup does a cold, with magnetic physicality and pure joy in her performance.

This is not to say the titular guys have little to give: Navarro oozes wicked charisma as Sky, doing good justice to the iconic “Luck Be a Lady” shoulder-to-shoulder with a full-tank ensemble of gamblers who filled Bing Theatre with life — and testosterone — throughout. Meanwhile, the Nathan Detroit that Koskoff brings forth is perfect. Seldom does one get to say they see a performance so precise — hilarious timing and choreography delivered to boot.

As if out of a tasting menu, hot plates of big-band suspender-clad no-good gamblers kept coming out of the oven. Chief among them were Anton Peter as Benny Southstreet and Eugene Boyd as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, adding quips and laughs to standout pieces such as the titular “Guys and Dolls” and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.”

This all takes place in a Bing set that feels like a lived-in world from the hectic “Runyonland” until the curtain comes down. In what has become a staple in USC’s biggest proscenium stage, rotating set pieces and projections came together to make agile and hilarious transitions from scene to scene in a Big Apple rotten right to the core, courtesy of seniors Lukas Garberg, Alex Muir and Jackson Doran.

Mackenzie Ozhekim’s costume design is particularly impressive due to the sheer number of pieces that must be flooding those dressing rooms. In making 2025 South Central Los Angeles feel like 1950s Broadway, an impressive — if at times overwhelming — number of ensemble members rotate from being boxers to emcees to sinners and missionaries, and not one costume is neglected.

Props also need to be handed to the lighting team led by Billie Oleyar, authors of the uniting sinews of each transition from one space to another, and better mood setters than bath bombs and scented candles.

Expert conducting courtesy of Billy Thompson and intricate yet spontaneous choreography from S. Anindo Marshall and Marin Helppie are exemplary and add to the absolute spectacle in front of the audience’s eyes, though numbers like “Havana” take marks off for other reasons. In a performance that, at the very least, acknowledges outdated visions of gender in its program content warning, little is said about a caricature they make no apologies for.

The brief detour some of its characters make to Cuba is mostly wonderful — thanks to gorgeous set pieces, projections and music. However, the sequence that follows reveals a disappointing directing choice to lean into tired stereotypes about oversexualized Latin music and Caribbean culture. In putting on a show like “Guys and Dolls” in 2025, there is an opportunity to subvert long-time prejudices; the opportunity was not just ignored, but damn near spat on.

Being on-the-nose and aware of misogyny in the show — to the point of including it in the program and having femme-presenting actors playing male roles satirically — and then playing to Latine stereotypes like it’s nothing at all is a total slap in the face.

Still, for what its outstanding student artists and performers can be responsible for, they come together to breathe life into Bing Theatre during a packed Trojan Family Weekend crowd that rightfully roared into a standing ovation Saturday night. All of the moving parts in “Guys and Dolls” roll into one hell of a payout in the end for a one-of-a-kind group that seemingly had Lady Luck by their side on this one — whether they needed her or not.

“Guys and Dolls” ran at Bing Theatre Nov. 6-9.