A Conversation with: Kathleen Marshall, Director of ANYTHING GOES

For our UPSTAGE playgoer's guide, Roundabout's Educational Dramaturg, Ted Sod, sat down with director Kathleen Marshallto discuss her exciting upcoming musical, Anything Goes – beginning performance on March 10 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre!

Ted Sod: How did this production of ANYTHING GOES come about?

Kathleen Marshall: Todd first mentioned Anything Goes to me back when we were doing The Pajama Game. He said that Roundabout had the rights to do a Broadway revival of Anything Goes and that he would love for me to do it. I told him, "Absolutely. Yes." It took us awhile to figure out when, where and who. Also, we had to figure out my schedule and Roundabout's schedule. I thought ideally that I would love to see Anything Goes in the new Stephen Sondheim theatre. We needed time to find our leading lady and once we found out we had Sutton Foster on board, we were good to go.

Ted Sod: This is not the first time you've worked with Sutton Foster, correct?

Kathleen Marshall: I've done a couple of readings with her but never a full production. I'm really excited about having the chance to choreograph for her because I love her. I have seen her in everything starting with Thoroughly Modern Millie. I think everyone who saw Millie thought, "Who is that gal? Who is that fantastic new Broadway star?" I've seen her in everything she's done on Broadway since then. The exciting thing is that we have a Reno Sweeney who doesn't have to leave stage during the dance breaks. Not only does she not have to leave stage but we can build the number around her and create it for her.

Ted Sod: What were you looking for in casting Reno Sweeney?

Kathleen Marshall: Reno is the center of the little universe on the S.S. American. She is the only character who connects with everybody else in the play. Billy is her friend, she has her Angels with her, she's a star who everybody knows, she knows the Harcourts and she is the proprietress of a nightclub in New York City. Because she works at the nightclub, Reno knows politicians, celebrities, gangsters and society people as well as people who just hang out there like Billy. She knows everybody. She is the pied piper in that way. She says "anything goes" in that title number and everybody catches onto that spirit. It's wonderful that Sutton Foster can not only lead the numbers musically but also lead them physically.

 

Ted Sod: Talk to me about casting the other characters. Was it difficult?

 

Kathleen Marshall: The wonderful thing is that we got all these incredible people and all the people we asked said yes. We can't believe we got Jessica Walter, John McMartin, Adam Godley to do his first musical in the U.S. and Colin Donnell. When Joel Grey said yes I thought that this was going to be really special because he is so unique. This is a big, bright musical comedy that requires a certain amount of attack and energy but it also has to be played for real. You have to avoid treating it like a cartoon in any way but it requires that heightened style that takes a certain kind of actor to do. All of these characters have to live large and you have to be comfortable in that place; being bigger than life in some ways and also believable and truthful. It acts like a farce. The English country house has been replaced by an ocean liner and you've got all these people in one contained place. It's the best kind of comedy because everybody needs something, wants something or is trying to hide something. Nobody in the show does things they think are funny. They are just doing things they need to do.

Ted Sod: The ensemble has to tap and do basically it all, right?

Kathleen Marshall: Yeah. The myth about Anything Goes is that it is a big tap show but there is only one tap number in it. It's not like 42^nd Street where you have tap number after number after number. What is fun about this show is that all the numbers have a very distinct flavor to them. "Anything Goes" is a big bright celebration of a tap number which is different than "Blow Gabriel Blow" that starts off as a show within a show with Reno and her Angels and ends in a spontaneous Evangelist celebration. There are always lovely moments with Hope and Billy. In "Easy to Love" she is resisting him not sure of her heart and in "It's De-Lovely" she releases and gives into her feelings a little more. Today we were just working on "Gypsy in Me" which is when Lord Evelyn shows his true spirit to Reno catching her by surprise. There are a variety of flavors in this style and choreography.

Ted Sod: How did you choose your creative team?

Kathleen Marshall: The creative team I have is the best of the best. They're also people that I have worked with a lot. I know them and trust them completely. What I love about the creative team is that everybody is an absolute expert in their department but also cares about the show as a whole. They care about every aspect of the show and not just what their nominal title is. Rob Fisher is the music director who has been my creative collaborator for many years and he cares just as much about the motivation and reason behind the song as he does about the musicality of it. He's an expert in breathing new life into vintage shows. Our design team of Derek McLane, Martin Pakledinaz and Peter Kaczorowski work beautifully as a team and compliment each other in terms of color and style. I started meeting with Derek last summer just talking about how the show would look and move. I also started talking with Marty last summer going bit by bit talking about each character and each number in each scene. Marty does a beautiful chart that maps each character in each scene with a color swatch so you can see the progression of how they change throughout the evening.

Ted Sod: This production is set in the 1930's - correct?

Kathleen Marshall: Yes. It is set in the year it was written which is 1934. It's interesting to do this now because 1934 was the time when the country was just starting to come out of the darkest days of the Great Depression with Prohibition being repealed at the end of 1933. There was a sense of coming out of the darkest into the daylight. There was a little sense of release, relief and optimism in looking ahead. It echoes where we are now as a country. We hope we are past our economic and world crisis. We are on the upswing again and it's a great time to be doing this show.

Ted Sod: Is this a piece that audiences want to see during hard times or is it a piece people just love any time?

Kathleen Marshall: I think of Anything Goes as a champagne musical. It's a delight and it's a show that families can see. It's not directed at a young audience though. Some family shows are made for children that adults are going to see as well. This is a show that is smart, sophisticated and witty. Nobody puts more hidden meaning in his lyrics than Cole Porter in terms of his sly wit, double entendres and wonderful sexiness and suggestiveness in those words. Parents and adults can understand the double meaning and kids will just love the fun and splash of it all.

Ted Sod: Tell us about your process as a director/choreographer? How do you work on a musical?

Kathleen Marshall: I feel like whatever project I'm working on, I spiral from the outside in. Just like a spiral you have to go around all of those times before you get to the center. You can't just head to the center. I feel like that with shows. There are a lot of times I'll take a first pass at a song or a script and think that I don't really know what to do with it. I don't know where it is going or heading but I know I have to let it spiral in slowly. I have to read the script, listen to the songs, think about it, come back to it, think about design, think about what it is about and it may take up to a fifth pass at investigating something before the light begins to dawn. Then you think, "I know what this is about, how to approach this and what our take will be." When you are doing a show that is a classic show that already exists, you still have to do that same process. You can't just jump ahead. You still have to read through the scene and think, "What's going on in this scene? What time of day is it? What just happened to the characters before they come onstage for the scene?" It's the same process every time. Even though that is daunting sometimes, you have to take a breath and know that you will get there. You have to let it evolve in that way.

Ted Sod: When a student says, "I want to do what you do," what do you tell them?

Kathleen Marshall: There are all kinds of ways to be involved in theatre. The first thing they think of is performing because that's the most visible. They think, "I want to be up there and I want to be a part of that." Of course there are all kinds of ways to be "a part of that". You try to let people know that there are musicians, designers, writers and offices all over the place filled with people working in theatre. If you go to the Roundabout offices, there's a whole floor of an office building of people making those shows happen. There's marketing, management, technical supervision, development and all kinds of departments that make shows happen. We are in an age where people don't just want to be an audience. They want to be a star and we create stars very quickly these days. I think that it's hard because there is a lot skill involved in musical theatre. We see people become stars because they are big personalities and not having a lot of skill. I think that people who want to be involved with musical theatre and be on Broadway in any aspect onstage or behind the scenes have to have skill. The only way to develop skill is through a combination of study and experience. You can't short change that. If you want to be a dancer, you have to go to ballet class, put your left hand on the bar and do your exercises. Do them everyday. Same thing if you want to be a musician; practice, practice, practice. Same thing if you want to be a designer. Get a sketch pad and a pencil and start working. There are all kinds of ways to be a part of theatre and you can be a part of theatre at all kinds of levels. You can be on a professional level or an amateur level in a school or community theatre and it can be just as fun and joyous to be a part of. To really do musical theatre takes skill.

Ted Sod: If someone were to ask what this show is about, what would you tell them?

Kathleen Marshall: The show is about people giving themselves permission to do what they want and to let go. Only by letting go can you find what you want, what you need, your true love and your destiny.

This interview was excerpted from our Anything Goes UPSTAGE playgoer's guides. Look for the full guide out later this month by clicking here.