'Anything Goes' is Tap-happy Fun!

I've only seen Cole Porter's 1934 musical "Anything Goes" once and that was an amateurish production at the University of Maryland many years ago. So long ago, the show seemed fresh when I attended last Saturday night's sold out performance at the Olney Theatre Center. I didn't recognize anything other than a ship was involved.

Do I recommend you see this 1934 musical? Absolutely!! It was great to see so many young children I assume first being exposed to the great score by Porter and maybe their first musical theater experience. And it will be one they will remember. I'm sure much of the humor went way over their heads. One example I allude to concerns a character in disguise with a long black beard. He asks "Buy a box of cough drops?" I wonder how many in the audience caught the connection to Smith Brothers' Cough Drops. Do they still make these?

Not enough is ever discussed in reviews about casting. But here, I have to applaud the casting. Special mention must be made to Karlah Hamilton playing the plum role of Reno Sweeney (Patti LuPone in the recent Broadway revival). According to her bio, she has appeared in over 70 musicals and was last seen at OTC years ago as the Evil Stepmother in "Cinderella". Well, welcome home Ms. Hamilton. It was such a joy to watch her perform.

Director Brad Watkins made a terrific decision to use the 1962 version that includes songs not in the 1934 version such as "It's De-Lovely", "Let's Misbehave" and "Heaven Hop" and "Friendship". Add to these incredible hits such as "You're the Top", "I Get a Kick Out of You", and the title song and you have one incredible musical event.

The show would not be as enjoyable without a great pit. And under the guidance of Musical Director Christopher Youstra, they do a yeoman's job in swinging the audience along. I only wish Youstra had a nice string section to go along with the great brass and woodwinds. I truly missed not having violins, cellos and basses. Obviously, this was an economic decision, as it is in almost all regional theaters' musical productions.

Special mention must also be made to the Choreographer Iloona Kessell. I noticed that Kessell is Head of the Dance Program at the McDonough School in Pikesville and is an Adjust Professor at American University. Her students must be very lucky. The dances are full of vigor and excitement. I haven't seen such tap dancing like this since….well…maybe OTC will one day do "42nd Street".

The costumes by Howard Vincent Kurtz, lighting by Charlie Morrison, sound by Matthew Nielson, set design by James Wolk and the great costumes by Howard Kurtz all play an integral part in this wonderful evening. The voices are all terrific. The entire ensemble works tirelessly and they sound and dance great. The slapstick humor at times seems forced, but all in all it works. Besides Hamilton, stand-outs are Kevin Bernard playing Billy Crocker, Laurie Schutter playing Hope Harcourt who just returned from playing the role of Millie in the national tour of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and Erin Driscoll as Bonnie. Driscool won a Helen Hayes Award for her great portrayal of Hope Cladwell in the Signature Theatre's great production of "Urinetown". Moonface Martin is played by Ray Ficca who was too much of a Groucho Marx figure for my liking.

I wish the OTC would include the wonderful material in the press kit in the program such as Center Stage does. There is terrific material about the history of the musical. I especially enjoyed learning about the inspiration from the Art Deco movement and the posters by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre. Five of these beautiful posters were included. They are wonderful.

One final note. If you see the film "Anything Goes", only four songs from the show are included and they all went through substantial lyrical revision due to the strict censor boards in Hollywood. Maybe it's time for a NEW movie version with all the risqué lyrics and music included in this production!!

For tickets, call 301-929-3400 or log onto www.olneytheatre.org. But act quickly. Last week-end's performances were completely sold out. Last show is April 30. For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

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