Review: ANYTHING GOES at Lakewood Cultural Center

Anything Goes is a classic Cole Porter masterpiece filled with flashy song and dance numbers, farcical antics, and an intricate plot. It's a tough show to mount, because it involves a large cast and must be carefully directed to bring out the humor and drama in the show. Performance Now Theatre Company has set sail with this epic musical, and riding this luxury liner with them is a theatrical treat.

The show's plot is convoluted and complex, and involves a lot of farcical points. It centers around Billy Crocker (Keith Hershman), who is pursuing debutante Hope Harcourt (Bethany Luhrs), while simultaneously avoiding his wall-street boss and a former lover, Reno Sweeny (Melanie Horton), all while aboard a cruise ship. The story gets muddled up when the ship's passenger list adds in con-artist Moonface Martin (Patrick Brownson), and several other seedy characters who bumble around causing chaos for their own personal needs.

Bethany Luhrs and Keith Hershman give outstanding performances as Hope and Billy. While neither demonstrated outstanding dancing abilities, the characters are more entrenched in difficult ballads and love duets, which these performers excel at. Patrick Brownson delivers a brilliant rendition of Moonface Martin, the inept gangster who manages to get mixed up in every character's plot line. His wonderful comic timing and snide humor make the show hilarious. Reno Sweeney is probably the most challenging role in the show, and Melanie Horton did a good job with the role. Her voice is stunning and she really knocked Reno's songs out of the park, but her character seemed stiff and awkward at times, and the giant dance numbers that the show usually relies on for spectacle were cramped by her inability to deliver the moves. The ensemble of other actors that make up the ship's population were wonderful, and they flowed in and out of many characters each.

The set for the show was grand and simple at the same time, and gave the cast a wonderful place to play the action. The lighting design, by Vance McKenzie was stellar. For a simple setting, he certainly added volumes of emotion to the action on stage with his creative use of color. The choreography, by Breanna Thistle, was sufficient, but lacked the punch that this production needs to keep it alive and relevant after all the years it has been performed. The title number at the end of act one is the shining example of this need for spectacle, but the choreography felt watered-down and simplistic for the obvious talent in the ensemble.

The show set sail this past weekend and will no doubt have a glorious journey. I suggest that you hop aboard and enjoy this classic show, because this production delivers a heartfelt and fun rendition of the show.

Anything Goes plays the Lakewood Cultural Center September 11-27th. Tickets and info can be found at www.performancenow.org or at the Lakewood Cultural Center Box office 303-987-7845.

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