Anything Goes

I would like to thank Ann-Marie Lawrence and members of The Little Theatre Donnington for their kind invitation and hospitality.

Anything Goes is set aboard the ocean liner S.S. American, where nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney is en route from New York to England. Her pal Billy Crocker has stowed away to be near his love, Hope Harcourt, but the problem is that Hope is engaged to the wealthy Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.

The setting of the stage was excellent and worked perfectly with the available space. The stage crew  carried out each scene change flawlessly; the lighting was very apt for the show. The tech for this show was great, lighting and sound couldn’t have been better.
The orchestra was a little disappointing throughout the first half. There seemed to be too much gusto and some of the songs seemed to have a number of keys being played at one time, which was a shame for both the performers on stage and the audience in attendance. The orchestra did get better as the evening went on, but I felt they could have spent more time with the Musical Director.

Jenny Olenik-Pritchard was outstanding as the sassy evangelist Reno Sweeney, from her first entrance in one of many glitzy costumes, with ‘I get a kick out of you’ she captivated  the attention on stage. Her ability to give the songs their 1930s style came effortlessly for Jenny, shown off to full effect in the rousing “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”

Billy Crocker was played by the very talented Stephen Oliver-Davies who gave his all in trying to win the love of his life, Hope Harcourt. His performance in “It’s de-lovely” was fantastic and I loved every second of it! Falsetto is always difficult for men, however Stephen made this look easy!

Moonface Martin was played by Stewart Lee, who was a great fit for this role. He bounced off well with all the cast, his comedic timing was perfect for the role and he really made “Be Like a Bluebird” his own.

Hope Harcourt was played by Catherine Rawlings. Her battle over choosing her heart or her head was well in evidence throughout the performance. The character’s connection with Billy Crocker was good, and you felt sorry for both Billy and Lord Oakleigh regarding which of them she would eventually choose.

Lord Evelyn Oakleigh was a bundle of laughs and played extremely well by Simon Lloyd-Roberts. “The Gypsy in Me” was exceptional. I’m sure that the vision Verity had when choreographing this section was portrayed even better than expected; Simon really put his all into this song!

Other members of the cast performed well. I did feel that in some all cast numbers that more expression could have been used. A smile goes a long way this would have also helped with some tuning issues. The cast members who spoke did seem to lose accents which was a shame. With this said the audience seemed to enjoy the show and it was entertaining if time had allowed I would have liked to see it again.

Congratulation to all that took part you should be proud of show put together. I look forward to seeing you in your next production “The 39 Steps” in October.

J W. McFarlane MBCS
Regional Representative District 2

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