Anything Goes

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"In olden days, a glimpse of stocking, was looked on as something shocking..."

I've been singing this song for the past few days. And I'll probably be singing it for a while longer, since I walked out of "Anything Goes" today with a smile on my lips and a spring in my step.

This show is a great example of old-fashioned Broadway musicals. Gorgeous songs, big long dance numbers, and terrific acting. The story and characters are a bit cliched, but with a cast led by Sutton Foster, those quibbles are happily overlooked.

Foster plays Reno Sweeney, a "nightclub evangelist" off on a sea voyage to England. I never quite understood this character. Is she a nightclub performer (as evidenced by her costuming and behavior) or is she meant to be a con-woman using evangelizing as her con or is she truly an evangelist? Which ever she is, Sutton is incredible. She looks great in the 1930's era costuming, has a powerful voice and even after tapping for 5 minutes in the Act One Finale of the title song, doesn't lose her breath. Colin Donnell is nice looking, nice sounding and moves well as Billy Crocker, and while he has a decent chemistry with Laura Osnes who plays his love interest, I felt he was a bit stiff in his scenes with others. Joel Grey is wonderful as Moon-face Martin, moving like a man half is age and holding his own with Foster in "Friendship." However, his solo song, "Be like the bluebird" goes on a bit long and has a weird blue spotlight effect that detracts from the number. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, with incredible ensemble dancing in the production numbers.

The show takes place (except for the first scene) on board an ocean liner and the three tier set is quite attractive. However, the first thing that came into my mind when I saw it was a Bon Voyage scene from the recent "Young Frankenstein" musical. But I got past that pretty quick and enjoyed the set. One quibble, though. Although the sky changed color above the set, the clouds never moved. And the sun and the moon were always in the same spots on the backdrop.

I knew most of the songs from the show, but had never heard them in context. And while I knew the basic storyline, I had no clue as to the ending, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Another pleasant surprise was the way the day started. I was sitting outside the theater waiting for the doors to open, when I was treated to a group of middle school students performing "Blow Gabriel Blow" and "Anything Goes" in the alleyway next to the theater. And gotta tell you, while the cast on stage may have more experience, those kids were darn good too.

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