Act One: An Autobiography

You know,

Yeah, I think a lot of the credit for that, we're talking about Abe Burroughs wrote it and wrote it brilliantly, but George Kaufman was looking over Abe Burroughs' shoulder throughout the process, and Kaufman was one of the great carpenters of American comedy, and he understood, you know, if you ever want to read a wonderful a study of how a successful play gets written, read Moss Hart's famous memoir, Act One, which is just about how George Kaufman taught him how to write a comedy.

And that craft is evident in Guys and Dolls as well.

But one of the things that struck me, because I've been brooding about your comment, Donna, that it's the key is that the second act really works.