Anything Goes
Anything Goes
By Guy Bolton. P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse
Music by Cole Porter
Directed by Julia Allardice Gagne
Starring Aaron Crass, Monica Rae Reiken, Sean Flynn
Valencia Character Company, Orlando, FL</strong>
Back in the Old Testament, you got to Europe on a ship. It took longer, but the food was better, a whiff of romance hung in the sea air, and no one made you take you shoes off. Best of all, the foredeck was big enough for a spontaneous kick line of sailors and tap dancers to form up at any moment. Try THAT on a 767. Through the logic of the American Musical, Billy Crocker’s (Kass) is heading to London on the borrowed ticket and passport of Public Enemy #1 Snake Eyes Johnson. He’s hot on the trail of his girl friend Hope Harcourt (Kayla Kelsay) who’s engaged to the rather odd Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Michael Kendrick). Fallen evangelist Reno Sweeney (Reiken) and mobster Moonface Martin (Flynn) help him along until Billy and Moonface are tossed in the brig, mostly to allow Moonface his one song, the completely silly “Be Like A Bluebird”. Billy gets Hope, Moonface gets off the Public Enemy list, and kinkiest of all, Sir Evelyn and Reno hook up. Then there’s more tap dancing.
This version of the show seems loosely based on the 1962 revival. Porter and the writing crew fiddled with the show endlessly, and it now has become a Cole Porter Greatest Hits revue. The story is loose enough to tolerate the surgery, and the result is a sort of American Musical songbook that always seem to get the best out of set designers. While there was some wooden dialog in the first act, Krass and Reiken were both exceptional singers. When either of them gets their teeth into some music, you forget all the other imperfections. Most of the dialog is in the first act, and the second act nearly all singing, so things improved as the evening went on. The on-stage chemistry felt strongest between Billy and Reno, with Kelsay’s Hope a distant second romance. Kendrick’s very odd accent and mannerisms were at first off setting, making the relation between him and Reno feel forced, but he grows on you. You never ever confused him with anyone else.
There were several major tap numbers between the sailors and Reno’s Angels, all choreographed by Lesley Brasseux. These alone make the show worth while, and the pinnacle of the show is the first act blow out “Anything Goes”. While there are a few rough spots, the show on the whole entertained and left people singing the reprise out to the parking lot. Cole Porter might be a fading memory, but his music remains immortal.
For more information on Valencia Character Company, please visit http://valenciacc.edu/theater/