Review: 'Anything Goes' Doesn't Have A Lot Going For It
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
There's nothing that isn't dated about the musical "Anything Goes."
From references to Milton Berle and hot pants, to the look of the costumes and the old standard characters, the Wagon Wheel Theatre production takes you to an era long gone. If audiences are looking to be taken back in time, "Anything Goes" certainly does that. But for anyone looking to be thoroughly entertained, "Big" and "Cabaret" have already been done this season.I'm not opposed to "the classics" of musicals, but they must be done well and opening night Wednesday of "Anything Goes" didn't live up to the standard of its predecessors this season. It lacked chemistry and sincerity.
In the story, three mismatched couples find love during a trip on the ocean from the U.S. to England. The stockbroker assistant Billy Crocker (Michael Vangemert) pursues Hope Harcourt (Jennie Sophia), who is going to marry stuffy Brit Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Andy Robinson), but he finds himself pursued by evangelizing night club singer Reno Sweeney (Catherine LeFrere). Hope's mother, Mrs. Wadsworth T. Harcourt (Danielle Robertson), is insisting on Hope marrying Oakleigh.
Also on the ship is Moonface Martin (Ben Dicke), who is a gangster posing as a minister. Martin is on the ship with his partner's girlfriend, Bonnie (Jennifer Dow). Crocker must also stay away from his boss on the ship, Elisha J. Whitney (Mike Yocum), who thinks Crocker is in the states, as well as the ship's crew who thinks Crocker is Martin's gangster buddy.
The couples who end up together in "Anything Goes" are suppose to be mismatched. But even when you pair up a Lucy and a Desi for comedic purposes, they still must have a spark between them.
But as performed Wednesday night, there's no believability that Reno and Evelyn would ever hook up, much less have a conversation. It was like seeing two characters from different musicals trying to fit into one show.
Maybe Lefrere toned down her performance to try to make chemistry between her Reno and Evelyn, which could explain why she didn't put enough robust energy into her role. It didn't help. In fact, Lefrere should have gone all Ethel Merman or Jennifer Holiday for her diva role and really belted out her songs more. But what audiences got was a safe performance. I have no doubt Lefrere can sing, audiences just need more gusto behind it.
Robinson certainly provided a stuffy British character for the stage. And his performance was at times comical. But, again, there is no believable reason in the show to think that Evelyn would connect to Reno in a romantic way. If Reno's and Evelyn's characters are a reversal of "Taming of the Shrew," this was no Shakespeare.
As for Billy and Hope, it's another story of the class clown trying to win over the cheerleader. Sophia is good in her role, she easily plays the girl that every boy wants. But to put it bluntly, Sophia's Hope and Vangemert's Billy aren't compatible. They needed some of the electricity on the stage from outside in the storm. Vangemert also flubbed his lines on more than occasion, which was caught by more people than just me.
However, when it comes to the comic relief, there's Ben Dicke doing what he does best as the not-so-bright madcap gangster. Whether he's trying to steal the glasses off Whitney's face, or trying to get the clothing off the Chinese men's backs, Dicke does dandy delightfully. Need a gangster for comic relief? Dicke's your guy.
Of course, who else to play a gangster's comedic girl than Jennifer Dow? Dow has proven show after show that not only can she do drama, she's even better at comedy. Put Dow and Dicke together in a comedy, and you get great fun. In fact, Dow and Dicke rather save "Anything Goes" at times.
But there was a funny Dicke moment that I didn't get to see while people sitting below were laughing. Why? Bad staging. During the scene where Moonface Martin takes breakfast in bed, Dicke was positioned so low that I, and others around me, had to strain our necks to catch a glimpse of what was going on. I was in Section 2 Row G Seat 4, and Dicke was doing something, audience members in other parts of the theater were laughing, but I was clueless as to what was going on because I couldn't see. I've never had that happen during a WWT show before.
Then there was the dancing. Certain performers were a little off more than once during opening night Wednesday. And perhaps by the time this is published, there will be more unison. Of course, with dance steps that reminded me of robotic penguins, maybe the dancers weren't the problem as much as the uninspiring choreography.
For Cole Porter fans, many of his well-known songs are in "Anything Goes." There's "You're the Top," "It's DeLovely," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Anything Goes," "Let's Misbehave" and "Blow, Gabriel, Blow." They're great songs that can get stuck in your head or find yourself humming.
Maybe the cast should have taken the song "Let's Misbehave" to heart, and let anything go. Belt the songs out more. Be playful. Have fun.
"Anything Goes" just wasn't going.
The musical was directed by Tony Humrichouser, with choreography by Scott Michaels.
