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July 1, 2004 (excerpt) Stratford bows to variety of theatrical tastes By Hugh Gallagher |
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Anything Goes
Choreography is a key ingredient to Anne Allan's production of this Cole Porter funfest. This is the show for fans of ballroom and tap dancing. It's all here and high energy. Don't look for a careful plot. This was written in the days when a musical's book was a thin story punctuated with a lot of jokes to connect the production numbers. The focus is on Porter's wonderful songs. Anything Goes includes such standards as I Get A Kick Out of You, You're the Top, Easy to Love, Friendship, It's DeLovely, Blow, Gabriel Blow, All Through the Night and the deliriously risqu? title song. The setting is an ocean liner on its way from New York to London. Cynthia Dale is the glamorous Reno Sweeney, evangelist turned nightclub singer. This evangelist is nothing like Sarah Brown. She's hot and high kicking. The show lights up whenever Dale takes center stage, whether she's singing or tapping up a storm. Sweeney is reluctantly helping her friend Billy Crocker win the heart of a debutante. Meanwhile, the debutante is betrothed to an eccentric Englishman (aren't they all?). A gangster is also on ship disguised as a priest. Michael Gruber is excellent as Billy, with a strong, clear voice and an expressive face. His duets with Dale on I Get A Kick Out of You and You're the Top are excellent. Other fine performances come from Elizabeth DiGrazia as the debutante, Jimmy Spadola as Moonface Martin, Sheila McCarthy as the randy Erma and Laird MacIntosh as the nerdy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. But the best parts here are the big production numbers that nicely fill the Avon Theater stage with energy.
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