Cole Porter's Anything Goes

Anything Goes was originally released by Cole Porter in 1934 with book co-written by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. The musical set during the 1930’s is focused around a young stoke broker, Billy Crocker who has fallen in love with the engaged debutante Hope Harcourt. Crocker ends up stowing away on an ocean liner heading to London from New York City. The story proceeds with Billy being mistaken as Snake Eyes Johnson, Public Enemy Number 1. From there, Billy is treated as the hero of the ship until he is revealed as a stowaway where he is then thrown into the brig. Once the outcome seems impossible to get out of, Moonface Martin and Billy play strip poker with a pair of Chinese converts in order to gain their clothing as a disguise. It ends …show more content…
This is such a juxtaposition of two different characters that have been meshed into one fantastic character. In the show, Reno is portrayed by Darby LeClear who did a fantastic job interpreting Reno and playing both aspects of her character. For example, when rushed by the paparazzi, Reno, and her angels quickly overshadow the minister Henry T. Dobson and the Chinese converts, Luke and John. When asked for a picture with Dobson, the angels and Reno pose proactively around him. However, later in the show during “Blow Gabriel Blow”, the group use both their flirty and sex appeal to encourage people to repent of their sins. With this character, it could have been easy to rely more on one aspect of the character than both, however that is not the case with Ms. LeClear, who portrays the character using the seedier side of her character when appropriate and then emphasizes her evangelist aspect when you see her genuine concern for the others such as when Reno confronts Hope for denying her love of …show more content…
Evelyn is introduced as a bumbling Englishman who does not understand American slang very well, although fascinated with American culture. This is not particularly contrasting but what does make Evelyn a contrast is later learned in the second act. During the confession in “Blow Gabriel Blow,” it is revealed that Evelyn has a “romp in the rice paddy” with a Chinese girl named Plum Blossom. This is very surprising since Evelyn is supposed to be very formal and polite. This leads to the confession that Evelyn has a gypsy for a grandfather and because of that is far more charismatic and passionate than he appears. Mr. Graham portrays this character very well during the show and that makes the character much more believable than if he just said the words and moved to where he was told to move. For example during “Anything Goes,” if you glance over at Mr. Graham, you can see that he is still dancing around and enjoying the music as Evelyn, instead of simply waiting for the music