Anything Goes

The Lyric has done very, very well. The show, "Anything Goes", was performed at the Ferst Center for the Arts and artfully done. Parking was easy, the walk to the theater was very pleasant, the lobby is much to be desired with it's curves and turns, but oh...that theater. Wow. Not a bad seat in the house. And with a set so masterfully designed by Drew Monahan. Lighting and set definitely talked to one another on this one. Costume Designer, Joey Ellington, did a great job setting the glamorous 1930s. And "hot-damn" the choreography! You can always tell a Jen MacQueen show! She works her actors just like Mr. Aponte! Well-done to Jen, as usual!

Now, the show itself, as far as storyline and song...the music was cleaver, and there were some great songs in it, but the relationships were something else. This is coming from someone who has never seen "Anything Goes" before and speaking as a pure audience member - I didn't get the relationship between Reno, played lovingly by Shea Johnson, and Billy Crocker, played by Joe Swaney, or Reno's relationship (or past) with Moonface Martin, played by Alan Kilpatrick. Was Billy really seeing Reno in Act I before getting on the ship? Were they just playing around as pals? What about Reno and Moonface? They talked briefly about the past in the beginning of the song "Friendship" but - so what was the history? Did the original writers say what it was? Movement-wise, Reno was a bit stiff at times and some notes here and there in different songs were questionable, but she was quite a believable "gal." The sailor quartet was so wonderful to my ears! Oh my goodness, the tones in those boys voices! I could hear their CD of Christmas music all year long if they made one! Didn't really get Billy and Hope Harcourt, played by Laura Floyd. They evidently romantically involved at one point, but where does the other engagement come in? What time had passed between them loving each other and her being with someone else? There was so much I wanted to know.

Best songs in the show: "Friendship" - fun with all the bells and whistles, including the fun choreography. - "There'll Always Be a Lady Fair" - ah the tones of the Sailors Quartet. - "Public Enemy Number One" with the Captain, Purser & Chorus - just a lot of fun and so obscure that it was enjoyable. - "Be Like the Blue Bird" was funny, sung by Moonface Martin. Act 2 showed a lot of Alan Kilpatrick's comedic timing and I seriously could watch him in any show anywhere in the world.

So all and all, not a wasted evening. And with that set and the 30 actors, may they bring this delight back again either next year or the year after to delight the crowd!