BWW Reviews: ANYTHING GOES at The Warner Theatre

There's no question that Reno Sweeney, the bad girl with a good heart and a big voice is steering the madcap cruise known as Anything Goes, on the stage of The Warner Theatre for two nights, February 25-26 '15. The ship (show), currently sailing (touring) around the country, is based on the 2011Tony Award-winning Broadway revival, directed and choreographed by the venerable Kathleen Marshall, and does a good job of bringing Cole Porter's irresistible songs, a healthy dose of slapstick comedy and lots of true (or not?) love together into an evening of song and dance fun, led by the charismatic nightclub performer Reno.

And of course, there'd be no Reno without her skilled embodiment in this cast, Emma Stratton, who brings just the right sassy strength to the role. Ms. Stratton handles the heavy demands of this role with grace, and the standing ovation she received at the final bows was well deserved.

The story of the misadventures of the passengers on a 1930's cruise ship crossing the Atlantic, can be charmingly dated overall, however it retains some unfortunate stereotypes and less than funny references (a joke about suicide is particularly tasteless), and it is therefore imperative that the camp be played to the hilt, and that those marvelous Porter songs be performed with a high degree of skill in both voice and dance. In this production, that imperative is not always met, and that had a tendency to make the stale elements of the story a bit more noticeable. But the show and its cast are at their best when they fully embrace the silliness of it all.

Along with Reno, her dubiously-named back up singers, Chastity, Purity, Charity and Virtue, love-sick stowaway Billy Crocker (Brian Krinsky), the singing, dancing (and romancing) crew, and long-suffering captain and purser, are a pair of easily distracted gangsters, a fortune-hunting mother, Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt (Tracy Bidleman), trying to marry her daughter, Hope (Rachelle Rose Clark), off to a rich British Lord, and said British Lord, who might just have a bit of a rakish side. Add in a hard drinking, diehard, Yale University alumnus of a long graduated class, with a bit of a vision problem (Michael R. Douglass), and you've got yourself the makings of a romp on the high seas.

Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, debutante Hope Harcourt's intended, is skillfully played (and satisfyingly over-played when necessary), by Richard Lindenfelzer, who brings the house down when he shows his "wild side," to Reno in Act II. As well as Lindenfelzer, the most adept at the show's comedy are Dennis Settiducati as gangster Moonface Martin, who can't quite succeed at much of anything (except skeet shooting with a machine gun)-he's only #13 on the Most Wanted List, after all, and his man-crazy sidekick Erma, played by the wonderful Mychal Phillips. They each seem to be having nothing but outrageous fun on stage, and that's infectious.

The entire cast makes the most of the signature number that closes the first act; dancing and singing well as a company, and showcasing the dazzling choreography that Kathleen Marshall did for this revival. Not so successful were the numbers that didn't involve Reno, Lord Evelyn, Erma or Moonface, but the audience was well compensated by the full-cast, splashy Anything Goes, and Blow, Gabriel, Blow; as well as the comedic numbers from the zanier characters.

It will not surprise you to find out that the star-crossed lovers of all generations are happily united in the end, and based on the enthusiastic audience response, that was a happy union as well! And especially if you haven't seen this Cole Porter celebration before, and love a classic song and dance comedy, Anything Goes goes well as an enjoyable evening at the theater!

To find out more about the show, and purchase tickets for tonight's show at The Warner Theatre, or future shows of the tour, visit the show's website: anythinggoesontour.com.

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