©Seattle Times Dec. 2, 2000 Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes': He's the top by David Kim
It's a rose, it's inferno's Dante. It's the nose, on the great Durante. Do I know what that means? Not exactly, but who are we to dissect the inimitable wordplay of Cole Porter? Porter's Anything Goes is catchy, it swings, and almost 70 years after it's birth, it still tweaks and twists our notions of what lyrics and songs are supposed to be. The 5th Avenue's David Armstrong has created a new production of the Porter classic that's bright, often hilarious and relentlessly upbeat. Yes, it suffers from some of the foibles of the original. It's got a ridiculous plot line, and it has a few things that are just plain hard to take in these times: Blatant racial stereotyping mars the second act, as does a quasi-evangelical scene that drags on far too long. Still, all that stuff like plot (five-second synopsis: the cast is on a cruise ship; there are dames, rogues, snobs, gangsters and movie stars; everybody falls in love) is little more than an excuse to string a bunch of song-and-dance numbers together. And that's just fine. Peachy, in fact. Porter's lyrics still sparkle, surprise and delight, even though we've heard songs like "You're the Top," "It's De-Lovely" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" thousands of times. And the cast sells those words well, singing with both heart and the precise diction that they require. Speaking of which, the thief of the show here is Bronson Pinchot, whom you might remember as Balki from "Perfect Strangers." He is hysterical as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, rendering a rapid-fire version of "Let's Not Talk About Love" that's reminiscent of those old speed-talking Federal Express commercials. He also does this thing with his shorts that truly defies description. Suffice to say it's fall-down funny. Dee Hoty, as a larger-than-life Reno Sweeney, really puts the oomph into lines like "If I'm not in the chapel, I'll be in the bar." Michael Gruber is a versatile Billy Crocker, and Donna English plays a sweet-voiced Hope Harcourt. Colleen Hawks does the ditsy gangster-moll thing, and gets a chance to sparkle through Armstrong's inventive choreography. But the big star of this show is Porter. Baby, if we're the bottom, he's the top. main Anything Goes 2000 page

©Seattle Times
Dec. 2, 2000

Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes': He's the top
by David Kim

It's a rose, it's inferno's Dante. It's the nose, on the great Durante.

Do I know what that means? Not exactly, but who are we to dissect the inimitable wordplay of Cole Porter?

Porter's Anything Goes is catchy, it swings, and almost 70 years after it's birth, it still tweaks and twists our notions of what lyrics and songs are supposed to be.

The 5th Avenue's David Armstrong has created a new production of the Porter classic that's bright, often hilarious and relentlessly upbeat. Yes, it suffers from some of the foibles of the original. It's got a ridiculous plot line, and it has a few things that are just plain hard to take in these times: Blatant racial stereotyping mars the second act, as does a quasi-evangelical scene that drags on far too long.

Still, all that stuff like plot (five-second synopsis: the cast is on a cruise ship; there are dames, rogues, snobs, gangsters and movie stars; everybody falls in love) is little more than an excuse to string a bunch of song-and-dance numbers together. And that's just fine. Peachy, in fact.

Porter's lyrics still sparkle, surprise and delight, even though we've heard songs like "You're the Top," "It's De-Lovely" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" thousands of times. And the cast sells those words well, singing with both heart and the precise diction that they require.

Speaking of which, the thief of the show here is Bronson Pinchot, whom you might remember as Balki from "Perfect Strangers." He is hysterical as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh, rendering a rapid-fire version of "Let's Not Talk About Love" that's reminiscent of those old speed-talking Federal Express commercials. He also does this thing with his shorts that truly defies description. Suffice to say it's fall-down funny.

Dee Hoty, as a larger-than-life Reno Sweeney, really puts the oomph into lines like "If I'm not in the chapel, I'll be in the bar." Michael Gruber is a versatile Billy Crocker, and Donna English plays a sweet-voiced Hope Harcourt. Colleen Hawks does the ditsy gangster-moll thing, and gets a chance to sparkle through Armstrong's inventive choreography.

But the big star of this show is Porter. Baby, if we're the bottom, he's the top.

main Anything Goes 2000 page