Anything Goes

I was surprised to see from the programme that Greenock Light did not have Anything Goes already in the repertoire and on the evening I attended, I found that it just suited the Club so well. With a straightforward story and the tuneful score of Cole Porter, it is a show loved by the audiences and thoroughly enjoyable for the cast. Set on the SS American, the story unfolds with the romantic ideas of Billy Crocker (Jordan Benacci) for heiress Hope Harcourt (Rosalind Ayre) and Billy’s hopes continue throughout the story as he stows away on the ship. It has an assortment of passengers, not least being the redoubtable but impecunious Mrs Harcourt, neatly portrayed by Margaret McMillan with Gerard Gordon taking the role of her fiancé, the convincingly eccentric Sir Evelyn Oakleigh. The passenger list also includes Moonface Martin (Graham Currie), a second rate gangster and his girlfriend Bonnie (Elaine Graham) and much fun was had in the confusion caused by their disguises as a minister and a missionary.    Julie Henry provided glamour as Reno Sweeney, the evangelist turned nightclub singer with her group of six unlikely but attractive “Angels”. Iain Mcfadyen cast as the harassed Captain spent his time bemoaning the paucity of the passenger list and chasing around trying to be efficient. Roger Hardie played the cameo part of the Bishop (a real clergyman) and Paul Alford took the role of Elisha J Whitney, Billy’s millionaire boss.
The cast extracted much comedy from the script notably the card game in the ship’s brig and the scene where Moonface leads a religious “revival” in the ship’s lounge when Evelyn admits to an indiscretion some time ago. All comes right in the end, of course and all ends happily with the intended pairings! The show was well staged and produced but maybe the MD had the best part of all – conducting the excellent orchestra from the pit!   

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