The revival of Cole Porter’s 1934 madcap romp Anything Goes at Arena Stage manages to be everything that it can be—an anachronism, tiresomely silly and outright dumb in places, but also the vehicle for a fantastic score, great dance numbers, and truly committed, attention-demanding performances by its leads.
Anything Goes is about as vintage a Broadway musical as you’re likely to see these days, debuting a decade before Rogers and Hammerstein initiated what’s often thought of as the Golden Age of musical theater. Serving as an escapist antidote for the Depression era, the show is full of the characters, plot twists and wise cracks that have come to typify the entertainment of the time. It must have been uproarious then, but at present has more value for its choice sampling from the Porter songbook—regarded as one of the brightest constellations of popular music in the years before rock and roll appeared.
The mulishly puerile vaudeville set onboard a luxury transatlantic ocean liner is a Himalaya of nonsense, involving crossed lovers, fugitives from the law, the filthy rich and some legacy racial stereotypes too (Arena made an effort to clean this up, but still…).
The personalities on this voyage include Reno Sweeney (Soara-Joye Ross), a onetime evangelist turned nightclub chanteuse with a thing for stockbroker Billy Crocker (Corbin Bleu), who in turn is head over heels for Hope Harcourt (Lisa Helmi Johanson), a pretty debutante with a foppish fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Jimmy Ray Bennett), an avaricious mother Evangeline (Lisa Tejero) and a Papillon toy spaniel in tow.
But checking the farce at that would just be lazy. Also aboard are Moonface Martin (Stephen DeRosa), a gangster in the guise of a priest, irritatingly channeling Groucho Marx and Jimmy Durante; his tough-girl moll with a racetrack libido Erma (Maria Rizzo); Eli Whitney (Thomas Adrian Simpson), a Wall Street tycoon and blind-as-a-bat jackass; a couple of Chinese gamblers (Julio Catano-Yee, Christopher Shin) seeking a change in circumstances; a bevy of Reno’s dancing girls (Lizz Picini, Kristyn Pope, DeMoya Watson Brown, Andrea Weinzierl); and a harebrained ship’s captain (Jonathan Holmes) searching the manifest for recognizable names to feed the celebrity-obsessed tourists along with the surf and turf.
The players’ interactions are often tedious, with the material eagerly providing the excuse for overacting to cliché, most egregiously found in DeRosa’s performance, which mines every Catskill shtick in the book. But then a surprise—if you wait long enough, Bennett’s Lord Evelyn goes from overbaked ham to inspired, from typical villain stock and foil to favorite character. The role largely gained from the 1987 rewrite, and his late Act II “The Gypsy in Me” is splendid.
Director Molly Smith and choreographer Parker Esse have created a consummately stylish, lighthearted frolic. You will be de-lighted with this show if you love 1930s screwball comedies, and dance scenes that evoke both the romantic swoon-and-glide of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as well as full-on hellzapoppin’ routines involving skipping sailors and burlesque evangelists. The score is buoyantly conducted by musical director Paul Sportelli in a swing jazz style. Ken MacDonald’s shipboard set is clean and sharp, with an innovative use of a stage lift and Alejo Vietti’s macaron-like costumes are outstanding.
If you’re not a fan of the old-fashioned farce of this type, with its low-brow humor, broad character acting and ridiculous plotting, that’s OK too, because by this point, Anything Goes is really just an excuse to hear standards like “You’re the Top” and “It’s De-lovely” being sung, and marvel at the cast as they hoof it to the title track in a jubilant exhibition of dance.
In other words, it’s worth sitting through the rapid-fire succession of groanworthy shenanigans to hear Bleu’s dulcet renditions of “It’s De-lovely” and “Easy to Love,” and witness Ross lead the company in the spectacularly zesty set pieces “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” and “Anything Goes.” In fact, the title song, performed as a tap dance show-stopper at the close of Act 1, brought the audience to its feet for a standing ovation before the final note had been sung, and the entire crowd was upright, clapping and only about midway through a genuine applause as the house went dark. By the time the audience returns from intermission, expectations have been set: we’re to wait in the dark, ducking and dodging the corn and cheese in anticipation of the song-and-dance payoff. Act II does not disappoint, as the plot becomes more filler and the show soars to its conclusion with the froth and sparkle of a holiday concoction from Starbucks.
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Bleu was the standout for me, usurping the spot usually reserved for whomever is playing Reno. Ross was excellent, and is the workhorse of the show, but Bleu was more in control of his singing, dancing and acting. He sings in a tender tenor, dances gracefully in cheek-to-cheek pairings with Johanson, taps with balletic precision and moves like the legendary Gene Kelly.
A highlight of the show early on is when Bleu and Ross share the stage, trading compliments in the form of 1930s popular references in “You’re the Top,” the famously witty (if now dated) rap battle of its time comparing one another to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon brandy, Garbo’s salary and cellophane.
But appreciation must also be given to Ross, for its her well of sound, her vibrato instrument, her tapping feet, her shimmying hips, and her big sweet smile that drives many of the show’s biggest moments. There’s even a segue when she and DeRosa quip on the production in what appears to be almost improvised banter.
IMHO, that’s exactly what Anything Goes and others of its ilk need, some kind of playful, sophisticated subversion à la David Ives or Aaron Posner to reinvent these beloved but tacky heirlooms for more-discerning theatergoers.
Anything Goes. Music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Original Book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse. New Book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman. Directed by Molly Smith.
Featuring Jimmy Ray Bennett, Corbin Bleu, Julio Catano-Yee, Stephen DeRosa, Ben Gunderson, Jonathan Holmes, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Brent McBeth, Mickey Orange, Lizz Picini, Kristyn Pope, Maria Rizzo, Soara-Joye Ross, Christopher Shin, Thomas Adrian Simpson, Lisa Tejero, DeMoya Watson Brown, Andrea Weinzierl and Nicholas Yenson. Choreographed by Parker Esse. Music Direction by Paul Sportelli. Set design by Ken MacDonald. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by Kimberly Purtell. Sound design by Daniel Erdberg. Hair and Wig design by Charles G. LaPointe. Stage Manager: Susan R. White. Produced by Arena Stage. Reviewed by Roy Maurer.
A joyous silliness — the score worms inside your head with delirious delight refusing to leave days after the event. Minutes after the show begins Reno sings, “I get no kicks from Champagne, wood alcohol doesn’t thrill me at all, but I get a kick out of you….” — certainly I was hooked. The set up of Eli Whitney’s bulla, bulla swilling of martinis and the cute joke Reno cracks, “I’ll have a martini — just make it with rye and put in a cherry” easily leads from laugh to delight and directly to the delicious, plausible lyrics. Minutes later Billy notes, “I’ve got Rhythm” and we’re off. Along with all the other great songs and incredible Cole Porter lyrics, the dancing and the intense focused performances by Billy — certainly — and also Reno and several others make it a great evening. We’ve lost the borsch circuit, but some of the flavor remains, and I say go with it and smile.
Expertly produced with many, many telling purposeful details, (check out the beautiful program cover illustration) the many wonderful individual performances centered the ‘newly refined story’ then expanded them with extraordinary singing, and powerful imaginative dancing. The carefully balanced subtle directional sound, well detailed clean set and lighting insured this ensemble effort would please — and it did.
As noted above the remarkable costumes were both expert in design and exceptional in execution. Obviously Arena has great depth in its Costume Department adept in working with complex period draping of bias cuts and almost invisible seams. Beautifully designed and constructed they were but, almost more impressive was the noticeable maintenance of the costumes. Today we sometimes forget how wonderful a well ironed dress or suit can be. Sitting close last night, I marveled at the craft and artistry on display, even while occasionally stupefied at the plot turns.
An imbalance did cause concern, as what wants to be the main love story between Billy and Hope is not satisfied by her underperformance — I kept hoping Billy would get Reno in the end. The casting is anything but “period” and totally reflects a 21st Century Arena policy — and seems perfectly natural, if in no way “traditional” — to that we can all say bravi. The casting feels “right.” Today we still do wonder at Celebrity worship even of criminals and leaders. So don’t be too quick to decry the stereotypes of yore.
Molly Smith has given us a beautifully directed voyage transporting us to a “gold standard musical” from another era. Its silliness is surely a part of what goes. This is a production to experience, revel in and enjoy. Done with great professionalism, honest glee and gusto it it not to be missed.