Susan Granger’s review of “Anything Goes” (Stephen Sondheim Theater)
Climb aboard a luxury ocean liner and be sure to bring your dancing shoes for this cheery, easy-to-love revival of the Cole Porter classic, original written by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse for Ethel Merman when it premiered in 1934, there was an updated book by Timothy Crouse (son of Russel) and John Weidman for Patti LuPone in the 1987 production at Lincoln Center.
Sutton Foster embodies saucy, shimmying Reno Sweeney, a defiantly wisecracking evangelist-turned-nightclub singer who is embarking on an Atlantic crossing to England with fellow passengers like gangster Moonface Martin (Broadway veteran Joel Grey) and his flirtatious moll Erma (Jessica Stone), Yale-obsessed Wall Street tycoon Elisha Whitney (John McMartin), stowaway Billy Crocker (Colin Donnell), debutante Hope Harcourt (Laura Osnes), her mother Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt (Jessica Walter), and her fumbling British fiancé Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (Adam Godley). And there’s a suspenseful comic riff as crew and passengers discover they’re trapped on the high seas with the FBI’s Public Enemy #1, much to the delight of the celebrity-craving captain (Walter Charles).
Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall for the Roundabout Theater, it’s just de-lightful with unforgettable melodies and sophisticated lyrics, like “Easy to Love,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “It’s De-lovely,” the show-stopping “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” even into its sixth or seventh chorus, along with the title song. As for plot, it’s a silly, screwball comedy that traces its roots back to vaudeville.
Unlike either of her brassier predecessors – Sutton Foster is a trained dancer and she hoofs it with the best of ‘em atop Derek McLane’s three-tiered nautical set, highlighted by Martin Pakledinaz’s jaunty costumes. Perhaps Joel Grey mugs a bit too much and Jessica Stone gets a bit too shrill, but it’s great good fun.
And for those who enjoy showbiz trivia, apparently the musical got its title during a more-than-usually chaotic out-of-town tryout period, when William Gaxton, who was playing Billy Crocker, agreed to making an early entrance, quipping, “In this kind of spot, anything goes!”
Designed to be pure entertainment, this revival of “Anything Goes” succeeds splendidly.