A hilarious shipboard romp wrapped in one of Cole Porter's most magical scores! Music, dance, laughs and the age-old tale of boy meets girl — Anything Goes is delightful, delicious, and de-lovely. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy Number 13, Moonface Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope.
Anything Goes premiered on Broadway on November 21, 1934 at the Alvin Theatre, where it ran for 420 performances, becoming the fourth longest-running musical of the 1930s. A revised version of the show opened Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre on May 15, 1962, starring Eileen Rodgers as Reno Sweeney and Hal Linden as Billy Crocker.
In 1987, Lincoln Center Theater produced an updated version of the show. Opening at Broadway's Vivan Beaumont Theater on October 19, 1987, the show starred Patti LuPone, Howard McGillin and Bill McCutcheon, won the Tony Award for Best Revival, and played for 784 performances.
In 2011, the Beaumont version was revived at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, starring Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. Once again, Anything Goes won the Tony for Best Musical Revival, and the production ran for 521 performances.
Starring Sutton Foster, Robert Lindsay, Samuel Edwards, Nicole-Lily Baisden, and Carly Mercedes Dyer
Two versions of Anything Goes are available: the 1962 version and the 2022 Revision based on the 1987 Lincoln Center production which features a revised script, updated in light of contemporary sensibilities.
We’ll produce the 2022 Revision, which has twice as much music and includes the hits "I Get a Kick Out of You”, "You're the Top”, "It's De-Lovely”, and the title song “Anything Goes!”
We will trade a few songs for numbers from the 1962 version. Those changes are:
• “The Heaven Hop” performed by Bonnie & the Angels instead of “There Will Always Be a Lady Fair”
• “Let’s Misbehave” performed by Reno & Evelyn instead of “The Gypsy in Me”
• “Take Me Back to Manhattan” performed by Reno, Bonnie, & the Angels instead of “Buddie Beware”
RENO SWEENEY | a charismatic nightclub singer and former evangelist, she is clever, funny, persuasive, and extremely confident.
BILLY CROCKER | the charming, love-struck, would-be suitor of Hope Harcourt; Whitney’s assistant.
MOONFACE MARTIN | a hapless gangster, Public Enemy No. 13!
HOPE HARCOURT | an American debutante with a strong sense of duty and the object of Billy’s affection; engaged to sir Evelyn, she is willing to sacrifice love and marry to satisfy her mother’s wishes.
SIR
OAKLEIGH | a wealthy Englishman; Hope’s energetic, quirky, and good-natured fiancé; a romantic foil for Reno.
MRS. EVANGELINE HARCOURT | Hope’s overbearing mother mainly concerned with wealth and social status; a widow.
ELIJAH J. WHITNEY | an Ivy League Wall Street tycoon and a nearsighted lush.
BONNIE La TOUR | a playful, independent, impulsive, and loveably “clueless” dame; a typical gangster’s moll to Snake Eyes Johnson and Moonface Martin.
THE CAPTAIN of the S.S. AMERICAN | intelligent, strong, but a little too concerned with prestige.
THE PURSER | reliable, alert, and by-the-book, with an air of confident style.
Anything Goes Auditions. These workshops are completely optional, but strongly encouraged.
Workshops will take place on Monday, Dec. 5, and Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 3:30 until 5:00 PM in the Auditorium.
Xaverian Dramatics will host Tap & Audition Workshops prior