Anything Goes….and Well It Should
Marcus Buckingham, of “find your strengths” fame, has a knack for using outstanding examples. In one such case, he cites Cole Porter as a man of great talent with music who couldn’t write a successful musical.
Anything Goes, now in revival on Broadway, is a sterling case in point. The book is less than froth on the ocean, where the action takes place. But, oh, the songs, which include “I Get A Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Easy to Love,” “It’s De-lovely,” “Anything Goes,” and “All Through the Night,” among others. It’s the American songbook cast vast in a little over two hours that fly by. You’re lucky if one monumental song is sung in an entire show in most cases. Here, you careen from one to another without letup.
People were singing coming out of the Sondheim Theater. It’s hard to do that nowadays with so much eminently forgettable music on Broadway.
The cast is amazing. Sutton Foster should win a Tony as the hip Reno Sweeney; John McMartin and Jessica Walter seem to have been in every play I’ve ever seen, such is their longevity; and even Joel Grey is back on the boards. The dance numbers are pretty wonderful, often lasting for ten minutes with the audience applauding along the way.
It’s all about song and dance with Porter. As opposed to the brilliant, recent revival of South Pacific, the Rogers and Hammerstein and Joshua Logan masterpiece, which has a very poignant story line, Anything Goes is the typical boy/girl chase, with nearly everyone getting married in the end. (The difference between these two musicals, by the way, is the difference between their origins in 1934 and 1949, with the Second World War intervening. There was less superficial frolic and a lot more introspection about social mores post-war and in the Cold War.)
I remember seeing Lion King on Broadway, and thinking that the entire production was an excuse to showcase the puppetry and costuming. Here, the production is merely an excuse to execute song and dance. Fortunately, they are done exceedingly well by one of those maddening Broadway casts who can sing, dance, and act with equal excellence.
Catch Sutton Foster if you can. The house was filled on a Wednesday night. Don’t worry about the story. Just enjoy the music because Anything Goes goes a very long way.
© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.
