Anything Goes

What a glorious evening with Scunthorpe Musical Theatre Society and their fabulous production of Anything Goes. With the exception of its opening scene, the show is set entirely on an ocean liner heading from New York to London.  The intertwining lives and relationships of several characters are followed during the journey with mad cap hilarity, wonderful song after wonderful song, great costume and set opportunities along with a funny script so all that is needed to make this a hit is a strong cast – which SMTS provided.

Billy Crocker is a stowaway who follows his rich boss, Elisha Whitney, on board the SS American, before bumping into an old flame, Hope Harcourt. Tom Toward was a strong Billy Crocker who mastered this large part with confidence and a cheeky persona.  Rod Wheat as the hard drinking businessman Elisha Whitney was fantastic – Wheat put his previous experiences as Whitney to great use as he really brought this character to life.  His delivery of some of the funniest lines in the show was wonderful and he captured the shows humour which ranges from tongue-in-cheek innuendos to the slightly cheesy.    Debutant, Hope Harcourt, was played by Lisa Smith which wonderful poise, a delightful fresh feel, confident dance moves and a very strong voice.  Her portrayal was most enjoyable as she kept her composure whilst the madness around her built.

Harcourt is onboard with her pushy mother, Evangeline Harcourt and Janine King did a great job of bringing this role to life.  As Mrs Harcourt tries to improve the social standing of her and her daughter she risks being over the top character, but King conveyed the hilarity with great comedy and stature.  Gangster, Moonface Martin is also onboard and Craig Miotk was a super ‘Public Enemy Number 13”.   As the gangster's moll, Erma is supposed to be sexy, brassy, independent, and Lyndsey Greatorex brought all these attributes to the role.  Greatorex’s delivery of “Buddie, Beware” with the support of the sailor ensemble was a highlight.  Hope’s new fiancée, Lord Evelyn Oakley, was played by Dan Holtby who gave a standout performance as the hapless English gentleman engaged to Hope, but who falls for nightclub singer Reno Sweeney.  Whether singing or dancing Dan Holtby embodied the role, never loosing the slightly clueless expression and being completely endearing to the audience.  A fabulous performance by this relative newcomer to the stage.

There are a number of supporting roles within the production including Captain (Gavin Cooke), Purser (Ian Donald), Spit (Alfie Smith) and Dippy (Abbie Rodgers) along with Reno’s Angels Amy Johnson, Bethany Coy, Ellen Malson and Harriet Hall were all fantastic.  Along with the ensemble they kept the story moving and were never out of character.   The feel-good factor of this production emanated from the stage because every single member of the cast looked like they were having a ball.

Kate Holtby was a fantastic Reno Sweeney, she had the charisma, energy, pizazz and oomph to portray this knockout character.   With her powerful vocals in songs like "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" and "You're the Top," along with her witty, and independent stage presence it was no surprise when she lured Eevlyn away from Hope.  A standout, sizzling and hugely entertaining performance from this powerhouse performer.

The choreography throughout the show was great from solos to large scale routines it was appropriate and well-delivered.  Act 1 ended with the characters fully embracing the "anything goes" attitude of the era in a full scale fantastic whole cast production number lead by Sweeney.  The cast embraced the chaotic and scandalous social changes of the era and gave the audience a high-energy, feel-good routine.  It’s unlikely that every cast member was experienced in tap dancing, but they certainly gave this routine their all and it was hugely impressive.  Congratulations to choreographer Becky Toward who used the strengths of the cast and created wonderful routines that suited the production perfectly.

The strong eight-piece band played this beautiful score so well.  The impressively played overture was a wonderful introduction to the many fabulous songs within the show.  In the 1930s Porter wrote the score for the original show in the classic musical style, but later versions of this show added other well-known Porter songs including "It's De-Lovely" and "Easy to Love”.  For a score and show which is over 90 years old it has totally stood the test of time and MD Simon Percy and the band completely did it justice.

The costumes were provided by Molly Limpet’s Theatrical Emporium Ltd and the Wardrobe Team deserve great credit for presenting the show so well with every scene being colourful and perfectly dressed – it really was impressive as there are many costume changes requiring numerous hats and accessories which all looked perfect.  The ocean liner set provided the perfect back drop, and it was moved by the cast with confident ease.  Lighting and sound were strong and added to the presentation.

Congratulations to the production team: Director Vicky Toward, Musical Director Simon Percy, Choreographer Becky Toward for pulling off another fantastic production.  Well done to everyone involved at Scunthorpe Musical Theatre Society for giving the audience a wonderful evening’s entertainment.

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