Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES at Oklahoma City University

A cast of 38 performers and 16-piece orchestra will present the Tony Award-winning romantic musical comedy Anything Goes April 11-13 at Oklahoma City University’s Bass School of Music.

Cole Porter’s madcap musical — set on a Jazz Age cruise ship populated by tap-dancing sailors and old-fashioned hijinks — is anchored by a score featuring favorite Broadway songs such as Anything Goes, It’s De-lovely, You're the Top and I Get a Kick Out of You. 

Anything Goes will be presented by OCU’s award-winning Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company as the grand finale of its 73rd consecutive season. Three performances will be staged in Kirkpatrick Auditorium: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee. 

Tickets ($15-30) are available from 405.208.5227 or www.okcu.edu/tickets. A free curtain talk with director David Herendeen will be held 30 minutes before each performance. Matthew Mailman will lead the pit orchestra, with choreography by  Sheri Hayden and Cassandra VanHouten; scenic design by Jason Foreman, lighting design by Jackson Maner, costume design by Alyssa Couturier-Herndon, and sound design by Brett Havens.

A themed opening-night dinner (reservations $25; 405.208.5227) will be held 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 11, in the Atrium of the Bass Music Center.

“This is Cole Porter at his finest,” Herendeen said. “The show takes place on a steamy steamer populated by fallen angels, celebrity-crazed passengers, star-crossed lovers, inept gangsters and a proselytizing nightclub singer. The entendres are beyond double in this tappy, happy, clever and crazy show!”

With original music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, the show’s setting was inspired by producer Vinton Freedley, who hid from creditors by living on a fishing boat.

Anything Goes inspired a 1936 film, starring Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman, and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1987 and 2011.

The Hollywood Reporter notes: “Vintage Broadway musicals were about pure pleasure, and this one delivers a boatload of it…the show is so packed with daffy physical shtick, comical dialogue and those still dazzlingly clever Cole Porter lyrics that it’s impossible not to surrender.”

THE CAST

Featuring Lianna Paglia and Celine Sullivan as Reno Sweeney (Jessie Rose Smith, Swing); Catherine DeVincenzi and Rachael Parsons as Hope Harcourt; Lucas Semrau and Niko Theriault as Billy Crocker; Jared Barbee and Reid Taylor as Evelyn Oakleigh; Anna-Marie Wright as Erma LaTour; Orion Turner as Moonface Martin; Anna Catherine Morgan as Evangeline Harcourt; Jeron Robinson as Elisha Whitney; Andrew Massey as Captain/Fred; Harrison Hitt as the Purser; Aidan Bartholomew as Spit; Tyler Hoverson as Dippy; Isaac Lynne as Henry T. Dobson/Ensemble; Amelia Castor, Kasey Davis, Anna Johnson and Ellen Mayer as Angels; Gavin Felciano, Evan Lacey, Caleb Kezeor and Ezra Moore as Sailors; and Parker Ellsworth and Hayden Thompson as FBI agents. The Ensemble: Christopher Bruno, Matthew Compa, Ryan Mitchell, Jaden Roesch, Susan Allison, Annalise Avila, Alli Echelmeyer, Morgan Lane, Hannah Lieberoff, Isabella Lorna and Grace McLean.

THE ORCHESTRA

Reed 1: Rebecca Sims

Reed 2: Julia Kahmann

Reed 3: Jay Jimenez

Reed 4: Libby Revel

Trumpets: Wayne Hoover, Gabe Carter, Karl Huber

Trombones: Garrett Carter, Brandon Lowe, Ben Rihner

Percussion: Adam Whoolery, Nathan Rainey

Guitar/ Banjo/Guitar: Matt Elder

Piano /Keyboard: Jay Teamer

Violin: Sydney McCleary

Bass: Nathan Hobbs

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Direction: David Herendeen

Music Direction: Matthew Mailman

Choreography: Sheri Hayden, Cassandra VanHouten

Scenic Design: Jason Foreman

Lighting Design: Jackson Maner

Costume Design: Alyssa Couturier-Herndon

Sound Design: Brett Havens

Props Supervision: Tess Rosen

Stage Management: Lauren Whyte

Assistant Director: Grant Huneycutt, Macy Urso

Associate Music Direction: Dr. Taylor Hutchinson

Assistant Music Direction: Jay Teamer, Emma Neasby

Production Manager: Jeffrey Scott Cochran

Assistant Production Management: Amelia McKey, Paige Miller

Assistant Stage Management: Brielle Norlie, Ainsley Eiffert

Technical Director: Brian Coleman

Assistant Lighting Design (Spots): Jillian Elliott

Assistant Lighting Design: Charli Henn, Annabelle Uehlein

Assistant Scenic Design: Cayson Evans

Assistant Costume Design: Elana Kaplan

Assistant Sound Design: Kym Kramer

Props Artisan: Della Beckstrom

Production Electrician: Cameron Smith

Programmer: AJ Blessing

Associate Technical Director: Kolt Schnake

Scenic Charge Artist: Kristy Benson

Costume Rental Coordinator/Lab Supervisor: Elizabeth Boyles

Lighting Mentor: Annalise Caudle

Cutter/Draper: Christi Coufal

Sound Design Mentor: Jacob Henry

Scenic Technician: Gabriel Holliday

Costume Shop Supervisor: LeeAnne Metzger

Electrics Supervisor: David Myers

Stage Management Mentor: Shannon Richey

Sound Shop Supervisor: Josie Mueller

Dialect Coach: Jaeleigh Burris

Dialect Coach Mentor: Chaslee Schweitzer