'Sit down, you're rockin' the boat!'

Written By venus on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 | 12:48 AM

I ran across the film adaption of the Frank Loesser musical "Guys and Dolls" on TV last night. I love the play. It was the first Broadway musical I saw. The story is about two gamblers who each fall in love with women of very different backgrounds, a cabaret singer and a dedicated member of the "Save-a-Soul Mission."

The show premiered on Broadway in 1950, had several revivals and a 1955 film, which starred Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and (from the original Broadway cast) Vivian Blaine.

My first experience with Broadway was the 1994 revival, which starred the inimitable Nathan Lane. But I digress.

The title of this blog is from a lyric sung toward the end of the show. The entire gang of gamblers lost a bet on a crap game and now must attend an evening at a redemption meeting at the Save-a-Soul Mission.

As part of his testimony, a small-time gambler, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, tells of a dream of his in which he and other people were floating on a boat to heaven. Nicely is holding his dice and passing out whiskey, as was his wont, but the other passengers warned that his actions would scuttle the ship:

"Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down
Sit down, you're rockin' the boat!"

Nicely is thrown aside by a wave. Realizing he is in trouble, he repents, acknowledging finally, "Sit down, you're rockin' the boat."

Nicely-Nicely later joins the mission and finds himself happily alongside one of the attractive female missionaries.

So this is a long way of saying …

Sit down, you're rockin' the boat!