Anything Goes

This show is one of my particular favourites full of wonderful Cole Porter songs which have become classics, witty dialogue and the chance for some wonderful tap dancing – and under Steph Smart’s direction this production delivered all three in abundance. Lauren Macdonald was outstanding as the evangelical nightclub performer Reno Sweeney with her strong voice shining through from her opening number “I Get A Kick Out of You” to the magnificent Act One closing with the full company “Anything Goes” and the rousing “Blow, Gabriel Blow” in Act Two. How she wasn’t out of breath after all the tapping in these latter two numbers I’ll never know! She also showed her excellent turn for comedy in the rendition of “Friendship” with Moonface Martin and in her scenes with Lord Evelyn. Matthais Kremer looked very much at home in the role of budding stockbroker Billy Crockett. His voice sounded equally at ease whether in the fast paced “You’re the Top” with Reno or in the more reflective “Easy to Love” with the love of his life Hope Harcourt. He showed his aptitude for comedy with the many disguises and characters he had to adopt to get close to Hope during the voyage. Hope Harcourt was delightfully played by Lauren Robertson as she struggled with her growing attraction for Billy as opposed to her fiance Lord Evelyn. Her rendition of “Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye” was heart wrenching as was her part with Billy in “All Through The Night”. Chris Tunks’ portrayal of the upper class Lord Evelyn Oakleigh was hilarious throughout but especially in his rendition of “The Gypsy In Me” complete with paso doble dance routine with Reno – it had the audience in stitches. Another great comic pairing were Liam MacAskill as the inept gangster Moonface Martin and Nicola Gray as his sailor mad moll Erma Latour. Moonfaces’s rendition of “Be Like The Bluebird” was a delight and Erma showed her true colours in her wonderful rendition of “Buddy Beware” with a cohort of sailors in Act Two! Showing that age is no barrier to finding love on a ship were Trevor Nicol as Billy’s boss Elisha Whitney and Caroline Macpherson as Hope’s mother Evageline Harcourt. Strong support was given by Graeme Livingstone (Captain), Isla MacLean (Purser), Kenny McCallum (Rev Henry T Dobson), Corey McCraw and Andrew Howie (Spit and Dippy). Adding to the glamour were Reno’s angels – Alison Ozog (Purity), Gillian Cooke (Chastity), Tatiana Zheleznaikova (Charity) and Serentity Harbour (Virtue). The company singing and movement were both excellent and the sight of so many of them tap dancing in “Anything Goes” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” was magnificent. The fifteen piece orchestra, under the baton of Alan Mackintosh, made a wonderful sound filling the theatre with the great Cole Porter melodies. Good use was made of the multi level set representing the decks of the ship. Costuming was appropriate to the era and to the characters. The company first put on this show back in 2009 – I was there to do one of my first NODA reports - and it was good to see some of that original cast still on stage singing and dancing their hearts out. Congratulations to everyone at Inverness Musical Theatre for yet another professional standard show.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.