Anything Goes
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Wikipedia-Article "Anything Goes"
| Broadway Show | |
| Anything Goes | |
|---|---|
| Theatre | Alvin Theatre (1934 - 1935) and 46th Street Theatre (1935) |
| Opening Night | 21 November 1934 |
| Author(s) | Music & lyrics by Cole Porter; Book by P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Russell Crouse and Howard Lindsay |
| Director | Howard Lindsay |
| Leading Original Cast Members | William Gaxton, Ethel Merman and Victor Moore |
| Closing Night | 16 November 1935 |
- For the song by Guns N' Roses, see Anything Goes (song)
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The "book" was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It introduced such songs as "You're the Top", "I Get A Kick Out Of You" and "Anything Goes".
Anything Goes was based on an idea by a producer, Vinton Freedley, who was living on a boat in Panama, having left the USA to avoid his debts. He selected the writing team, and the star, Ethel Merman. As the show was in preparation, a passenger ship, the SS Morro Castle, burned and over 125 passengers perished. The plot, which concerned a shipwreck, was deemed insensitive, and the show was largely rewritten.
The resulting story was that of a nightclub singer, Reno Sweeney, played by Merman. The show opened at the Alvin Theatre, New York City, on 21 November 1934 and became the fourth longest-running musical of the 1930s. It was filmed in 1936, starring Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby.
The song "Anything Goes" achieved a minor revival when it was used in the famous Monty Python's Flying Circus "Courtroom sketch". The Pythons also introduced a completely different (no pun intended) song called "Anything Goes" by "the other Cole Porter". ("Anything goes in, anything goes out, fish, bananas, old pyjamas, mutton, beef and trout...")
According to the title song, "In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, anything goes".
Perhaps one of the most widely-seen slices of the musical is the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where Kate Capshaw (a.k.a. Willie) sings the title song in Cantonese at a Shanghai club Harrison Ford (a.k.a. Indiana Jones) is visiting.
For the 1987 Broadway Revival, which starred Patti Lupone in the role of Reno Sweeney, John Weidman and Timothy Crouse (Russel's son) updated the book and re-ordered the musical numbers, borrowing Cole Porter pieces, most notably the song "De-Lovely", from other Porter shows, a practice which the composer often engaged in.
The musical enjoyed a West End revival in 2003 with the National Theatre's production starring Sally Ann Triplett and John Barrowman.
Synopsis
Billy Crocker, a young wallstreet broker, stows away on the S.S. American, in hopes of winning the heart of his beloved Hope; she is on her way to be married to Sir Evelyn Oakley, a stuffy, hapless British nobleman. Stowing away with Billy are "Moonface" Martin, a gangster labeled "Public Enemy 13," and his girlfriend Bonnie (originally named Erma); the two have disguised themselves as a reverend and a missionary, respectively, after stranding the ship's real reverend back at the port. On board, Crocker runs into his friend, older nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, who resolves to help Billy win over Hope. Billy simultaneously learns the true identities of Moonface and Bonnie, and in exchange for his silence, they join the plot to break up Hope and Evelyn; as the show progresses, Hope, Evelyn, Billy, Reno, Bonnie, and Moonface all end up in a variety of compromising positions with members of the opposite sex.
Songs & Singers
Act 1
- Prelude-Cole Porter & Orchestra
- I Get A Kick Out Of You-Reno Sweeney
- There's No Cure Like Travel/Bon Voyage-Sailor, Girl, & Crew/Company
- You're The Top-Reno Sweeney & Billy Crocker
- Easy To Love-Billy Crocker
- I Want To Row On The Crew/There'll Always Be A Lady Fair-Elisha Whitney/Sailor Quartet
- Friendship-Reno Sweeney & Moonface Martin
- It's De-Lovely-Billy Crocker & Hope Harcourt
- Anything Goes-Reno Sweeney & Company
Act 2
- Entr'acte-Orchestra
- Public Enemy Number One-Company
- Blow, Gabriel, Blow-Reno Sweeney & Company
- Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye-Hope Harcourt
- Be Like The Bluebird-Moonface Martin
- All Through The Night-Billy Crocker, Hope Harcourt, & Sailor Quartet
- The Gypsy In Me-Lord Evelyn Oakleigh
- Buddie, Beware-Bonnie (a.k.a. Erma) & Sailor Quartet
- I Get A Kick Out Of You (Reprise)/Anything Goes(Reprise)-Company
External links
- Internet Broadway Database listing for premier production
- Internet Broadway Database listing for 1987 revival
- Internet Broadway Database listing for 2002 revival
Anything Goes! is also a retail chain of discount stores operating in North West London, United Kingdom.
