A Review of the Broadway musical, Anything Goes

I recently saw the musical Anything Goes on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre, and I figured I would give a little review of the show from my perspecitve.

To give a little background information on the show, the show Anything Goes currently on Broadway is a revival of the 1934 play with music and lyrics written by Cole Porter. This is currently the show’s third revival on Broadway. This version of  Anything Goes stars Sutton Foster as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, John McMartin as Wall Street banker Elisha Whitney, Colin Donnell as assistant to Elisha, Billy Crocker, and Joel Grey as gangster Moonface Martin.

The play is set in 1934 on board a cruise ship London-bound. Elisha Whitney, a Wall Street executive is about to make a major business deal to earn him millions and is preparing to go to London aboard the S.S. “American”. His assistant (and the protagonist), Billy Crocker has fallen in love with a beautiful girl he met in a taxicab, but is told to stay behind to see to it that the deal goes through successfully. Early in the play, nightclub singer Reno Sweeney admits to Billy that she is in love with him, but he says that the two should stay friends. Reno also happens to be traveling to London aboard the same ship as Elisha. Billy escorts his boss to the ship, and aboard he sees Hope Harcourt, the woman he fell in love with in the taxicab. She is being forced by her mother to marry Evelyn Oakleigh, a British noble. Billy decides to stow away on the ship to win back Hope’s heart. During this time, Moonface Martin, a gangster (and not a very good one at that) and his sidekick Bonnie board the ship under fake identities, and allow Billy to assume the identity of Public Enemy Number 1 “Snake Eyes” Johnson, who missed the boat. With everyone set up, comedy and outrageous events begin to ensue, giving the dubbed name of Anything Goes a fitting meaning.

Since 1934, the music of Anything Goes has become some of the most famous music to ever hit Broadway, and has even been recorded by artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. And it is good reason that these artists recorded this music, as the music is as great as those who recorded it. The play’s first number, “I Get a Kick Out of You”, sung by Sutton Foster immediately shows the power and range of Sutton Foster’s voice, and nicely sets up for the audience what they can expect from the lead actress throughout the play. Another famous song such as “It’s De-Lovely” was a perfect duet between Billy Crocker and Hope Harcourt. The two complement each other flawlessly and the performance is seamless. In terms of choreography, each musical number was flamboyant and showy (as were many musicals during this era on Broadway), and keeps the audience alert and entertained throughout. The famous tap dancing during the musical number of “Anything Goes” was absolutely stunning. Applause after the number continued for several minutes. As a whole, the music and dancing of this show was spectacular and I couldn’t fathom a complaint against either.

As a comedy, the show was quite funny. There were several short one-liners and quips that kept the audience going, and (without giving any spoilers) the “outrageousness” of the ensuing plot delightfully keeps the audience amused. Unfortunately, because this is a revival of a play from the 30’s much of the humor is dated and references celebrities such a Mae West; famous during their time, but unfamiliar to many audience members. This particular revival attempted to restore much of the dialogue (while still adding much new content) from the original play, as the 1962 and 1987 revivals had edited the play quite extensively to semi-modernize it. While the play has many funny moments, one-liners, slapstick and “confusion” humor that can be enjoyed by any audience regardless of age, there are far too many jokes that may go over one’s head due to lack of knowledge of 1930s popculture.

As a whole, this musical was probably my favorite I have seen on Broadway. Each member in the cast played their parts very well, and during the play, I could imagine myself as another passenger on this cruise ship watching the hilarity take place. As mentioned before, each musical number was breathtaking and kept me wanting more after the show was over. While not as funny as I had expected it to be, Anything Goes is a must-see, and those who wish to see it should do so soon before the show closes in April 2012.

For those who are interested, here is a link to the 2011 cast recording of the shows most famous number, “Anything Goes” Soundtrack.