“There are well-heeled shooters everywhere, everywhere.
There are well-heeled shooters everywhere.”

Well-heeled shooters converge on Woodlands High School this weekend, when the school’s drama club presents Frank Loesser’s “Guys & Dolls.”

At a recent rehearsal, high-schoolers in sharp suits and ties made nice when the lieutenant came sniffing around, but it was clear these guys were itching to throw dice.

There were guys.

There were dolls.

And there were great songs – “Adelaide’s Lament,” “Fugue for Tinhorns,” “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” and “If I Were a Bell” – that prove the genius of the musical’s composer and lyricist.

Greg Colica, a Woodlands senior, plays Nathan Detroit, proprietor of “the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.”

His Detroit is all New York, he says.

“I grew up with Frank Sinatra music in the house,” he says, “and the New York accent. Growing up with my family, it was easy to play Nathan.”

His one song, “Sue Me” – in which he begs the long-suffering Adelaide (Tara Pavone) to bear with his cold feet when it comes to the altar -has been a challenge, he says.

“I’m not the strongest singer, but I’m comfortable singing with Tara. We’ve known each other a long time, and that makes it a lot easier.”

The accent is key, Colica says.

“Having a New York accent, you develop all the mannerisms and that helps your character,” he says. “It all falls into place.”

A piece of cheesecake?

“Or strudel,” says Colica, echoing his script. “Some people prefer cheesecake, some people prefer strudel.”

Pavone, a junior, is used to playing quieter types – she was Grace Farrell, Mr. Warbucks’ secretary in “Annie” last year – but this year she’s stepping out as Adelaide.

She agrees with Colica: The accent goes a long way to finding Adelaide.

Pavone’s voice is naturally high, but as Adelaide it’s more nasal and a bit chirpier.

“If the accent slips, I feel like myself. When I get it back again, I can feel Adelaide coming back,” she says. “I think of her ditziness and how she loves being a Hot Box girl and how she loves Nathan Detroit.”

The challenge is to sing with the accent, she says.

Stephanie Sanchez, also a junior, plays the strait-laced Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission whose eyes are opened to love and trust by an unlikely beau, Sky Masterson.

Sarah believes so strongly in her mission and her morals, Sanchez says, and she doesn’t really let loose and relax until she sings the song “If I Were a Bell.”

She says the easy-going Sarah is closer to her real personality and the rigid Sarah is more of an acting challenge, forcing her to find ways to play someone much more uptight than herself.

“She eventually sees that Sky has something that’s intriguing to her,” she says. “And there’s a happy ending.”

Sanchez says she wasn’t sure about whether she’d like doing this particular musical because she didn’t really know what was happening in the show, but director John MacLean has opened her eyes to the story.

“I’ve really fallen in love with the play – and everybody loves a love story,” she says.

Nathaniel Graves, 16, was President Roosevelt in “Annie” last year. Now, he’s shooting craps in a New York City sewer as Sky Masterson.

“Sky’s a cool character,” he says. “But he’s really the opposite of me. When I’m with my friends, I’m all over the place. Sky doesn’t show a lot of emotion.”

Sarah is something new, Graves says, a totally different woman, a challenge. And he’s drawn to her.

That’s unusual.

Gamblers usually like a sure thing.

Photo by Stuart Bayer/The Journal News: Cast members rehearse a scene from “Guys & Dolls” at Woodlands High School in Hartsdale.

‘Guys & Dolls’
Where: Woodlands High School, 475 W. Hartsdale Ave., Hartsdale.
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.
Tickets: $10, $5 for students.
Call: 914-761-6052.
With: Lila Yang, Karl Habana, Sam Washington, Randy Gonzalez, Stephanie Sanchez, Toni D. Campbel, Meg Graves, Justina Mark, Andy Nguyen, Valentin Neamtu, Greg Colica, Jackson Davis, Tara Pavone, Nathaniel Graves, Reece Williams, Elizabeth Sanchez, Jessica Blair, Janelle Berridge, Blerina Nikqi, Bria Christian, Michelle Correa, Elizabeth Sanchez, Cassandra Jollicoeur, Keith Graves, Kirk Habana, Jackson Davis, Katarina Hoeger, William Irizarry, Miles Massey, Bryon Aleman, Esteban Rodriguez